Feeding fry: first foods for baby fish

Newborn livebearer fry can eat crushed flakes and baby brine shrimp from day one. Fry of egg-laying fish such as tetras and rasboras are tinier and need infusoria or liquid fry food for the first days, then microworms and baby brine shrimp. Feed small amounts three or more times a day.

Guppy fry
Shown: guppy fry. Photo: Nevit Dilmen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The first days

Many egg-layer fry live on their yolk sac for a day or two, then need food small enough for a mouth you can barely see: infusoria (single-celled life that grows in a jar of tank water with a little vegetable matter), green water, or liquid and powdered fry foods.

The next weeks

Once fry are visibly larger, add microworms and freshly hatched brine shrimp. Both are easy to culture at home: how to hatch brine shrimp. Crushed flakes and micro pellets follow as they grow.

Keep the water clean

Frequent small meals mean more waste in a small tank. Siphon leftovers daily and change a little water often; a sponge filter protects fry from the intake.