fry and scratching

[rt456]

anyone used formalin to treat scatching fry?

need some tips
thanks:D

[denise.gardner]

how old are the fry?you get a certain amount of scatching because their food can irritate them.are you getting the excess food out ie brine shrimp.if its not that they dropping the temp by 1/2 degrees that will kill off bacteria i would try that first before addng formalin.also depends what stength of formalin youve got as to how it needs to be diluted.................den

[rt456]

Temp is 23oC, ammonia is 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates are 2.5. its not all of them, might be the food as they seem to be doing it a bit less, now i have broken the tank down and cleaned it all. they are nearly 3 weeks now, and some are really big :-)

[denise.gardner]

i would not use formalin at this stage a certain amount of itching is normal mine still do it on the odd occasion.they grow really quick .how many have you got ive still got my 35 and now another 54 .they where born 36 days apart.mine are on bb,rotifers and copepods i expect them to clear their food within half an hour and feed 4 times aday.but if it does continue i would still be inclined to drop the temp incase its bacterial.but i would still say its food are you lighting from above or to the side i give the ponies a slightly darker area where they can get out of the food as bb is attacted to the light

[rt456]

They are eating bbs and copepods, the are lit from below and the tank has the back covered to stop any ambient light from the other equipment bothering them i have about 27 i started 35 which i splint in to two tanks but one tank had an ammonia spike and i lost a couple, i moved the rest over and they are doing OK now. i will try and drop the temp another degree or two. there seems to e a few that are really doing well and a few that are alot smaller and not so happy i.e the scratching ones. I was nto expecting them to do this well as its his first batch and he was pregnant on his 24 hour flight from oz then a 2 hour drive from SS on the same day.

[denise.gardner]

i got spike from there to and he was pregnant if it was his first batch you can expect some weaklings i also give mine vitozin its supposed to stimulate appertite.what i would do is take the weak ones and lower the temp for a couple of hours then reaclimatise them and put them back.if need be and the worst comes to the worst only treat those with the formalin.dependent on the strength i think its a 40% solution although i will check if you want.i know that formalin does help in some circumstances but if you can avoid chemicals it has to be best.....den

[rt456]

i might seperate them and enrich the bbs im feeding them and see if they catch up abit. i will drop the temp on the scratching ones tomorrow and see if more are scratching or not. thanks for the help ill update later today :-)