this is how i set up my grow out tanks. i suggest plants like hornworth fast growing and dosent need much light and lots of places for it to hide in. i would advise against any kind of filter other then a sponge filter that has already been cultivated since other filters may suck up the frys. a bare bottom tank no gravel with some pond snails or mystery snails to get rid of any excess food.

 

Would ghost shrimp do the same job as the snails?
And I was planning on fitting a sponge onto the bottom of the intake tube on the filter so that water could get through but the fry would not.

Whaddya think?

 

i have a similar sounding tank filled with crypts and anubias. i am planning to add hornwort.
i am worried that my overgrown ghost shrimp will eat the fry. the ghost shrimp i get aren't staying small. my advice: save yourself the worry and stick to snails...

 

I think going with the ghost shrimp could be risky for small fry. If you don't care about the look of the tank and only function for raising fry, fill it with java moss. It will give them plenty of hiding spaces and probably provide some food too.

Also remember "cycle" bacteria (ie. break down ammonia and nitrites) will die unless there is a source of ammonia to keep it alive. If you have a filter on the tank but no fish the bacteria will probably die. If you have enough plants in the tank it might not matter though.

 

when I did my fry tank i used an old filter,a handfull of gravel from an old tank, 30% water from an old tank. and lots of horn wort. Also lots of "Cycle" and it took 13 days to get the ammonia/nitrite/ nitrate levels to 0.
I would like to know how anyone considers that an instantly cycled tank.
I would still monitor your levels.
mouse

 

hornworth is great since its low light and a fast grower so uses up alot of nitrates. a sponge filter is still best because its dosent have a very strong pull when you have a power filter the sponge will still have a slight pull. and this can be bad depending on what kind of fry. Liveberer frys are usually to big to get sucked against the sponge attached to a filter but frys from egg layers or small invertabrates can be a problem so thats pretty much your call. snails are usually better then shrimp because there poop is readly used by infusia which the snall frys will be happy to snack on and there slow, eat leftovers and algae.

 

I'm using penguin 125 with pantyhose over the intake tube. Seems to be working quite well. Actually a pretty efficient filter media for both small and large particles. hehe.

Can't find hornwort here at my usual places, so went with 2 bunches of anachris and wisteria each for 10G.

Livebearer fry.

 

Nothing like digging up an old thread eh? hehe

Anyways, I've just noticed i have some pregnant swordtails. Would moving the mothers to a fry tank be too stressful? I can't see it being much worse than trapping them in one of those dinky breeding nets. Maybe toss 5 gallons of tank water into the 10 gallon so the water parameters are pretty much the same as what they have now. (which i just did a 50% water change on that tank, so fresh water wouldn't be much different anyways)

Is bare bottom the best for fry, or would gravel be better?

I'll prolly pull the baby ramshorn snail infested hornwort and some anacharis and toss it into the fry tank as well. Maybe a few of my marimo balls also.

I had thought about just leaving them in the main tank. But then i thought about the 21 hoover-like fish mouthes swimming around in there and changed my mind.

 

You can lose some young in the gravel especially if they over eat. Belly dragging in a tank with gravel is a death sentence.

Moving an expectant parent temperature is the most critical to match but the water parameters should be close.
good luck :fish1:

 

would this sponge filter be enough do you think? http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/images/Categoryimages/normal/p_960273_14039Z.jpg (the right one)

The tank will house the mothers for how ever longer it takes them to give birth, then the fry until they are large enough to trade/give away.

I had thought about just sticking a sponge over the intake of a HOB, but thought it would clean up the powdered food too fast.