Re: small fish

["Darren J. Hanson" <djhanson@calweb.com>]

Frauley/Elson wrote:
> Hormones? Maybe. But I do question if it's diet. After all, we feed the
> mothers too. I usually give bbs to my fry, fairly exclusively. Mom gets
> flake, bloodworm, whiteworms - all but the flake apparently too large
> for the young.

I don't have Kaycy's experience with fish, but I have helped her out for 
the last couple of years and I like to interject some common sense
whenever
I can.

Think about a newborn human infant. At first it can't eat anything
really
besides it's mother's milk (or an artifical substitute like formula).
But
once it starts to grow, it starts to be given apple sauce, strained
carrots,
and all the other types of baby food that stains the walls and ceilings
of
new parents' homes. If you were to restrict the baby's diet to just
milk/formula
there would likely be severe nutritional deficiencies that would result
in 
stunted growth and poor development.

If we try to extrapolate from this to our fish, what do they eat first
in the
wild? Probably some sort of planktonic food. (Algae, paramecium, etc.)
And as
soon as they can possibly eat new foods, they do. Remember, our fish are
generally
ready to start spawning at 6-12 months, the equivalent of 12-15 years
for a human.
So that 1 month old fry, is really the equivalent of a 2 year old baby
who should
LONG have been off milk/formula and on to other foods. The more variety
we can provide
and the sooner we can provide it, the better growth I would expect to
see in 
our children as well as our fish.

I'm no Kaycy, but I do get to live with her!

-- dj


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