Found 2 fry in my tank...

1697 Views 19 Replies 5 Participants Last post by PlantedRich, Apr 16, 2014

LeeVing

Discussion Starter · Apr 11, 2014 (Edited)

So last night I started to take out some water in my 10g in preparation of converting it to a dirted tank.

With only about a 1/2 inch of water was above the substrate, I saw 2 things zooming around. Had to get my light back on, and saw that it was 2 very small fry.

I haven't had any fish in this tank for over a year, so these either came from some java moss I ordered through ebay or from my 120g I had some of these plants in before. The plants wern't in my 120 for long and I never noticed any spawning, so I am assuming it was the java moss.

So now I would like to see what these turn out to be. So how would one go about keeping these 2 little ones? I will be going out in about an hour to Pet Smart to pick up a sponge filter. I think I still want to convert to dirt, so a turkey baster would come in handy to suck them up and into a temp cup.

Anything else I should look for at Pet Smart?? This is my first time with fry.

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PlantedRich

· #2 · Apr 11, 2014

First let me assure you they are not as fragile as they might seem in natural conditions. Nature has a way! But that does not include hard stuff like nets and moving around. Soft little bodies crush easily. You are right to use a syphone or squeeze bulb.
Feeding is one we worry about but for just tow and with plants, they may find all they want when tiny. As they get bigger, I might try just some dust from flake food if you have it. The worst thing is giving them too much so that the water gets polluted. There is an item called "First Bites" which is made for fry but It looks like dust from flakes!

OAli

· #3 · Apr 11, 2014

I use a mortar and pestle to grind up bloodworms, fish flakes and cichlid pellets and feed this dust to my fry that are kept in a floating breeding tank. The breeding tank also has a small layer of substrate and some java fern, they eat the dust abd any biofilm on the plants

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scapegoat

· #4 · Apr 11, 2014

i've been successful w/ http://www.petco.com/product/10906/Hikari-First-Bites.aspx

I've also had luck with crushed flake, and frozen baby brine shrimp.

regardless of what you feed, put it into a small dish and add some water from the tank. Use a small pipette for feeding a little at a time. if you get the frozen brine babys my recommendation is to swirl the thawed brine around and watch as things settle. the casings will fall faster, so you can suck up just brine.

or dump them into a tank with a lot of moss. I dumped a lone fry into a 10g full of java moss and he's doing just fine. recently moved him in with another group of fry

LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 11, 2014

Thanks for all your input.

I picked up a breeding net/tank and hung in on my 120. I felt they have a better chance in there than they do if I refill the 10g back up. I ordered a sponge filter on amazon so that will take a few days. Hopefully they make it, but I want to get this tank planted this weekend.

I crushed up some flake food for them. Couldn't tell if they were eating it or not. I'm not sure how old they are. They are only 2-3mm or so. I've only had this tank going for a few weeks.

OAli

· #6 · Apr 11, 2014

What temp is your tank? They grow quicker in warmer tanks, it also means u need to feed more often. I keep mine at 78 and feed in the morning and evening

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LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 11, 2014

It's set around 79ish. Can hit 80 sometimes in the day if the sun is out.

OAli

· #8 · Apr 11, 2014

Keep us updated when you figure out what fish they are!

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LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 11, 2014

I will. I tried to get some pictures, but they are just too small.

The glare and the mesh didn't help either.

PlantedRich

· #10 · Apr 12, 2014

Warning if you have the netbox I think about and there are larger fish in the big tank. I found that larger fish may try to eat the fry and suck them into their mouth. They may not get the job done but they do kill the fry. It took a while to figure why I was getting these dead fry floating around inside the netbox.

LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 12, 2014

Lost one last night. The other still looks good.

Not a huge deal if this one makes it or not, just more of a curiosity than anything. My angel fish used to spawn a lot, but would eat them so I never have had fry.

OAli

· #12 · Apr 12, 2014

Oh man, get guppies super prolific and resilient. I swear they are the smartest fries, they manage to survive in a tank of betas

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LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 14, 2014

So, in looking at pics of fry around the Web I believe this may be a cherry barb fry.

I have 1 male and 4 females in my 120g. This thing is still really small so I can't tell for sure, but that's what it looks like to me.

I'll try to watch for more spawning.

PlantedRich

· #14 · Apr 14, 2014

If you want to improve the odds of many small fish surviving the first few weeks, there might be an easy way. Many fry will try to hide but they need help. I find tiny fry often get in between flat rocks stacked on each other. I use limestone as it is easy for me, but any rock that suits your water may work as well. Just something that is pretty flat but has enough ridges to hole them aprta a 1/8 or 1/4 will give the fry a chance to get in where larger fish can't suck them out.

LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 14, 2014

well...it was in there this morning, but after I woke up, it was gone. Not sure how it got out, but it's not in there at all.

At least I have this net for next time I see any eggs or fry.

PlantedRich

· #16 · Apr 15, 2014

PlantedRich said:
Warning if you have the netbox I think about and there are larger fish in the big tank. I found that larger fish may try to eat the fry and suck them into their mouth. They may not get the job done but they do kill the fry. It took a while to figure why I was getting these dead fry floating around inside the netbox.

Sorry about the missing fish but I would recommend ditching the netbox!

LeeVing

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 15, 2014

yeah. I just don't have any room to set up any more tanks.

PlantedRich

· #18 · Apr 16, 2014

If the occasion comes around again and you want to keep small fish in with larger, like the netbox might do, there is a better way. I found the commercial netbox to be a totally worthless exercise with my fish so went DIY. Using the small mesh plastic designed for weaving, I cut and sewed up boxes in several sizes to meet different needs. The plastic mesh is stiff and the larger fish can't suck it in to kill the fry. When I got overrun with fry so that there were no tanks open right away, I hung the mesh boxes across the tops of larger tanks.

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Betta132

· #19 · Apr 16, 2014

Ooh, that netbox is cool. What did you use for the frame there? Hey, I bet I could make something like that out of the plastic tank divider I have...

PlantedRich

· #20 · Apr 16, 2014

The wood at the top is only needed if you get up larger than 4-5 inches. For small boxes, the mesh is stiff enough. This is a box for a whole group of fry so it is maybe 8X12 inches. The "stiffener" is screen bead like used to cover the edges on screen on wooden screen doors. I used monofiliment fishing line to sew it and the #12 wires were stiff enough to hang it at the end of a ten by hooking the wires on the ends and sides. Using this I could get lots more use out of growout tanks and still keep different groups seperated. Fry take so little filtering that adding extra boxes let me double or triple the number without adding more tanks and equipment. The mesh is only $1-2 for a nice sized sheet and comes in different mesh sizes for different size fry.
But when thinking about the commercial dividers I've used, cutting them up would work better! They never worked to keep fry from slipping through.

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