[smj]

This is probably pretty ho-hum for most of you, but it's a first for me. I never had anything except snails breed for me before, but today I noticed that I've got some fry in the 10G where I'm holding plants, one harlequin raspbora, and a half dozen silver/white Cloud Mountain Minnows.

Unfortunately I haven't even started setting up the new 45T in the living room, so I can't move the adults out of the tank. I noticed they were off their feed a bit earlier this week, and I guess that's because they were eating fry… I'll switch from 0.5mm pellets to grinding up flakes so the bigger fry have something to move up to.

Never realized how hard it would be to get a picture of these little guys - they dart around constantly...

 

[thedood]

Gratz!!

 

[Nordic]

You can put them in a bowl or ice cream tub inside the tank. If you choose the latter route, make a few large holes in, and stuff them with filter floss, just to help with keeping their water nicer.

To catch them try to scoop them in something, rather than a net...you can use the latter to chase them.

 

[WaterLife]

Congrats on the baby minnow!
It's exciting to see that the fish are happy enough to breed.

I'm curious what temp the tank is at or has been at?

You can put the fry in a fish net and suspend it within the tank (add in some fine leaves plant cover or moss for the fry to hide in if you want).

But if you have a spare container(s) you could keep the fry in those (DIY if you have to).

 

[smj]

Thanks everybody! I've spotted about 4-5 fry, one small enough that about all I can see is the reflection of their eyeballs. These are a couple to several millimeters long, and are venturing out from the big stack of subwassertung in the corner of the tank. Since they've survived at least several hours of doing that, I figure they're either too big or too fast to be eaten (so far).

The temperature is 78F measured at the bottom center of the tank, with just a thin layer of gravel, lots of stem plants in terra cotta pots, pieces of anubias and java fern sitting around between the pots, the softball-sized bunch of subwassertung, and a fair bit of large and small duckweed. Also more algae on the tank walls than I realized, before I started trying to take those pictures… I usually add a milliliter or so of Flourish, Flourish Excel, and API Leaf Zone once a week for each, on different days.

I've got a 24" JBJ fixture with a 55W 6500K four-pin Coralife PC on a 4-3-5 siesta cycle, and some diffuse daylight comes from a North-facing window above it. There's a little Duetto submersed filter driving circulation down one long side of the tank and back. I haven't done more than an occasional pH check, which has tended to be in the 6.8 - 7 range so far.

 

[Nordic]

Its not just about not getting eaten, but also getting enough food. Easy enough the first day or 3 when they might have residual egg sacks and can live of microbes, but as they grow the more food they need, and the less appropriate sized food is around in a clean tank.

 

[livebearer]

congrats...i love seeing new life in my tank! thats why i keep a small amount of livebearers in my tank so every so often ill see a wee one....i have 4 babies so far and like you i count them (often) lol...well good luck with raising them!

 

[gmdiaz]

That's awesome!

 

[Nordic]

I am so tired of waiting on one platy to give birth. She is huge, I expect 60+ fry from the drop. Feels like she is being spiteful because she is in a breeding net.
She is a really pretty apricot tuxedo, I want all the fry, no tank birth for her. I love sitting at the fry tanks, school of 40, inch long platies following my hands on the glass like it is a magnet.
I'll be setting up the 5th fry tank today, my op is coming along nicely. Also want to start working on the breeding setup for my glofish today. I have seen nice compact systems a used in laboratory setting.
Zebra danio are one of the most studied species in science. They tend to breed them in the labs to have embryos and eggs available on hand. They can regrow severed parts of their bodies including spines and brain stems. So they are really interesting.

 

[LinaS]

You can put them in a bowl or ice cream tub inside the tank.
To catch them try to scoop them in something, rather than a net...you can use the latter to chase them.

But if you have a spare container(s) you could keep the fry in those (DIY if you have to).

i used plastic cover from a cake )) its square shaped and floating great! also its transparent so you can see your fry clearly )
and right... since they are too small its a good idea to catch them using a cup )

 

[roadmaster]

Check filter's if you don't have sponge over the intake.
I find lot's of baby fancy guppies, and cherry shrimp in my canister's when I clean them monthly.
I used prefilter sponges over the intakes for a while but grew tired of cleaning them sometimes weekly (got lazy).
I just Pour the canister filter water into five gallon white bucket, and net out the fish/shrimp's and put em back in the tank.
I have a few white cloud's also but have yet to see any fry from them.

 

[dpod]

If you're sure the fry are hiding in the subwassertang, you could gently scoop the whole clump up in a bowl and transfer all of it to your container. If you gently tease the babies out of the moss, I bet you'll be surprised by how many you have

 

[GrampsGrunge]

Some notes about WCMM:

If you have a heavily planted, single species 10 to 20 Gallon tank with just a few White Clouds, you can expect the babies to survive despite swimming with the parents, * if * the tank residents are all well fed.

The babies tend to inhabit the upper areas of the water column and frequently like to shelter under large floating plants like Water Sprite and Salvinia. The babies will invariably be found near the water surface, even before becoming fully free swimming. They are really pretty at 3 to 8 weeks of age because they develop a bright neon green stripe which eventually dulls as they approach adulthood. A school of dozens of them at this age is really pretty.

Two Summers ago my 85-G container pond was initially stocked with just 6 feeder White Clouds, and now there's almost 70 adults in there. Last summer about 20 new babies were accounted for. Well fed White Clouds can be quite fecund, and they don't normally feed on their eggs or fry like other egg layers.

 

[smj]

Haven't checked my own thread in a while (and forgot to hit "Post" when I wrote this over the weekend...)

In the end I've got six juveniles. I had started with six silver adults, and of those one disappeared around the time I spotted the fry. Not uncommon not to find a body, thanks to the pleco. Anyway this is all in a 10G, and I've got seven golden adults in the 15G vertical tank in my office - and am now thinking about encouraging them to breed...

Some notes about WCMM:
The babies tend to inhabit the upper areas of the water column and frequently like to shelter under large floating plants like Water Sprite and Salvinia. The babies will invariably be found near the water surface, even before becoming fully free swimming. They are really pretty at 3 to 8 weeks of age because they develop a bright neon green stripe which eventually dulls as they approach adulthood. A school of dozens of them at this age is really pretty.

With being in a 10G maybe there isn't that much difference. Most of the time I was observing, the fry were in the middle. At times over the past month there've been a lot of floating plants (larger duckweed), but it didn't seem to draw them up.

Last summer about 20 new babies were accounted for. Well fed White Clouds can be quite fecund, and they don't normally feed on their eggs or fry like other egg layers.

I imagine 20 juveniles schooling must be a treat, they're so bright...

And yes, I just finally got around to looking closer at some common write-ups on the species. So it's possible the rasbora might have nibbled on fry, but unlikely the other minnows did. Good to know. (This confirms what I just read on Wikipedia and Aquarium Tidings.