I initially found the idea of hatching and raising Melanotaenia Picta a bit daunting. As a person pretty new to fishkeeping, this was essentially uncharted territory for me, but I came to the conclusion that to grow as a fishkeeper and improve my skills, I was going to have to deepen my knowledge by 'doing' rather than simply researching. You can only read so much, sooner or later the only thing to do was to take the plunge and try for yourself!!
Methods
1) I prepared a fry tank by taking all the fish I had in it out when I knew the eggs were on route. The tank was well cycled, having been in operation for 6+ months. The tank had a substrate made up of Manado (hardened, fired clay) and was well planted with hardy plants such as Anubias, Java moss and some Vallis. The pH of the tank was approximately 7.0-7.2 and the temperature was approx 25C. I used a small sponge filter also. Plants can be beneficial as they encourage the growth of mirco-fauna that young fry can feed on.
2) I purchased the finest mesh breeder net I could fine. The breeder net was used to keep the fry together in a small space during the earlier stages of growth (especially for the first 10 - 12 days). Once they hatch, the fry are extremely small, and are easily sucked into filters or carried in the water flow. Use of a breeder net also would mean I could add food straight to a more isolated space (the breeder net) and I would be pretty sure that all the fry would get some.
3) When the eggs arrived I acclimatised them by setting the bag in the water, and then drip acclimatising them in a cup for 45 mins. Whilst eggs may not be as sensitive to changes in pH or temperature as hatched fish, I did not want to take any chances.
4) I then added the eggs, mops strings and everything that was in the packet to my breeder net. I had lined the breeder net with lots of java moss to give the fry somewhere to hide etc for when they hatch. This also encouraged development of micro-fauna (small aquatic organisms) that the newly hatched fry could feed on.
5) Once the fry hatch they typically use up their yoke sacks in about 12 - 24 hours. As such, the fishkeeper must be ever vigilant, and should check frequently for hatched fry. You will find that you will generally be too excited to not do this anyway! - As a tip, I would highly recommend that you pick up a magnifying glass as this will make things infinitely easier! I fed the newly hatched fry usually three times a day on the Golden Pearls fry food (size 5-50 micron). This food is extremely small and can be eaten by the fry from day one more or less. I simply used a Bic pen lid, dipped it in the powder and shook it over the water surface.
6) After fry were about 7 days old i started up a micro worm culture (in hind sight, I should have started this as soon as I received the eggs). After 12 days I released the fry from the breeder net into the tank.
7) After 12 days I gave them their first feeding of micro worm. At this stage you will already see that some fry are bigger than others (as are some of the micro worms). An awful lot of the worms will fall to the substrate, however, the larger fry will be able to eat some of these worms. Not all the fry will be ready for the worms though, so it was important that I continued to feed both micro worm and the golden pearls fry food for another few days or so. By day 12 I had 40+ fry.
8) At this stage, frequent water changes are a must. I typically did a 5 litre water change every other night (approx 10%). This will help lift dead micro worms / excess food which would otherwise rot and turn to ammonia quite fast.
9) As the fry continued to grow, I moved them from micro worms on to decapsulated brine shrimp eggs. Decapsulated Brine Shrimp Eggs only cost a few pounds for a small bag, and these can easily be added to the fry tank. I noticed a remarkable increase in growth while feeding this food. Once I felt growth rate was once again slowing down (after a few weeks), I moved the fish on to CE Fish Essentials Community Plus product. Once again, growth rate increased. My results with using this food were very good. Typically, I would cut a cube, attach it to a piece of string and dangle it in the water. Whilst it took the fish a day or two to learn what was happening, they ate vigorously via this method. On a down side however, this method did produce a lot of waste. A better method is to cut the cube into very small, bite size chunks, and to drop these in the water, bit by bit. The fish still get their food, these is less wastage, and you save yourself a few a pretty penny by making your CE Fish Essentials Community Plus product last longer.
10) Once the fry were approximately 2 cm, I moved them to a larger aquarium (3 ft x 1 ft x 1.6 ft). This aquarium was glass bottomed, with a only a piece of bog wood and some java moss and importantly, no substrate in it. This made the tank much easier to clean. The fish were able to grow out in this tank until they hit 3-4 cm. Once they did, I decided they were big enough to sell. I kept a few and sold the rest to help cover some of my costs.
All in all I regard this as a successful introduction to Rainbowfish raising. I mark this success based on the following:
1) I raised 40+ fish to a juvenile age with no losses once the fry reached the 2 week marker.
2) I had a lot of fun in the process
3) The colourful displays I now get to see from my 6 month old adults.
Check out the video below and let me know what you think. Feel free to a sk questions or offer feedback.