Oops! I have fry! Now what?

[SkarloeysMom]

I was vacuuming the gravel and changing water in the 20g today and I took the bucket outside to dump it. I thought maybe I'd look close to see what I vacuumed up. YIKES, I saw these little tiny things that looked like tadpods - all head and tail like a comet. I think they are only about an 1/8" long total and I can barely see them even with my reading glasses. I don't know if they are Zebra Danios or Rasboras but I have about 20 of them in a 1g tank with about a 1/2 gallon of water in it. Unfortunately the water is nasty since it was what I was vacuuming during cleaning. I tried to drain off as much of the nasty water as possible and added some RO water. I can see that some have died but some are swimming strong and seem to be fine.

So, what do I do now??? I never expected to see fry in my tank. I knew I had some fat female Zebras and a couple of males but I never really thought the fry would survive. Once I saw they were alive I couldn't just dump them in the garden. Any ideas what I should do next?

[Rocky06fx4]

I'm the father of about 40 black mollies and i'm going through the same process of figureing out what do with them.. I bought a disposable filter that hooks up to a air pump so this way my HOB won't suck them in. Luckily I have a 10G hospital so I just put them in there.
I'm feeding them baby brine shrimp which it working great! My main concern was if they would eat. Now i'm gonna wait about 90 days and give them to my LFS, they might give me store credit but I highly doubt i'll be able to sell these fish..
My first plan was to sell them and make like a hobby outta raising and selling fish.. But unfortunately this is unrealistic and I will be giving up on that idea. I was hopeing I could turn my hobby into profit but seems like its impossible... Most fish places breed their own or already have something set up with someone... I thought about selling them online but transporting them seems like a hard task thats just not worth it.

[Algenco]

if they are rasbora or danio fry the dirty water was probably the best thing for them. Feeding small fry is difficult, cichlid fry are large enough for newly hatched brine shrimp.

Offspring from egg scatterers are very small and need infusoria of some type.established tanks with a fair amount of detritus, green water, or in your case cleanings will provide their first foods.

Do you have any java moss? they can find enough food in the moss to get them through until they get large enough for other foods.

[SkarloeysMom]

I don't have any real plants. I guess I could go buy a little java moss ball and see how that works. I really don't have anywhere to raise these little guys accept this unfiltered, unheated 1g betta tank that I use to fill my tanks with.

I counted and it looks like there's close to 30 fry. They are all just hanging out on the sides of the tank. I guess I'll must leave them in the muck water and maybe change out some every couple days and see if any survive.

I wonder how fast they grow. They are SO small right now that I just can't imagine these EVER being a 1" fish. This will be an interesting experiment. If any survive I will be either giving them to a friend of mine who's son recently lost his fish population to his Dad's overzealous bi-annual big tank cleaning. Or i'll give them to PetSmart if they'll take them. I can't really keep anymore in the 20g.

[SkarloeysMom]

Looks like I have about 3 free swimming fry so far and the rest are still clinging to the glass. I put a little ground fine flake food in there before I read that you should wait until they are free swimming to feed. Oh well, we'll see how many accidently survive. I tried to get a picture but its impossible. they are just too small.

[AquaQueen]

Congrats on your little accidents...it's fun watching fry grow..but it can sometimes be a very slow process. Good Luck!

[SkarloeysMom]

it's fun watching fry grow..but it can sometimes be a very slow process. Good Luck!

Ugh, how slow we talking here? I don't really have a good place to raise these fry. I just dumped them in this spare 1g I have. I really don't know how I'm going to care for them in an uncycled tank. I can't even net them they're so small.

I have this breeding box that I got when I bought the 20g long but I really don't know how to use it and I think its for livebearers. Is it possible to transfer them to this box once they get big enough and float it in the 20g? It has little vents in it I assume so you can keep it in the main tank.

[AquaQueen]

Hmmm never seen a little "box" is it like a screened type thing? or Plastic and can hang on the side of the tank?

The process for my guppy's has been slow like three months went by before I was able to even try to sex them...and I was feeding them three different types of food to help them grow faster. I dunno if it's the same for egg scatterers. I never had anything but live bearers breed in my tanks.

As for the tank you have them in not being cycled you can easily fill that tank using water from your 20g and the water should be safe. I am not 100% on this but I think that no heater that will also slow things down.

[SkarloeysMom]

Its a plastic breeding box and I think it floats in the tank. I found a picture of it here http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Breeding.html. Just scroll down the page a bit and you'll see it.

[AquaQueen]

OK Yea that's a typical Breeding Nursery...I have used them before they are actually the better ones that are sold. I am surprised you cant scoop the fry out with a net...I can with my guppy's the day they are born but I have done this a few times...my very first batch of fry were Mollies and they lived for about 6weeks then all slowly died. You should try getting them into the Nursery and into the big tank it may be better for them. I never remove my fry now... I used to but I have so many now that it wont hurt for some of them to get eaten.

[SkarloeysMom]

These fry are so small they just go right through the net. I really think they must have hatched out very recently. I don't think I'll be able to get them out until they are a little bigger and free swimming.

Maybe I can try to use some small tubing to vacuum out the crap from the water and then pour them ever so slowly into the breeding box while its floating in the big tank and see if that works.

[kimmers318]

If they are small enough to slip thru the net find a brine shrimp net....a very fine mesh and usually sold at most stores. I actually prefer it for a lot of fish as the fine mesh doesn't catch on fish as easily as the larger mesh. Hopefully they aren't too small for the breeder box. You may be able to find a breeder net that again, is made with a very fine mesh and it hangs on the side of the tank. Since it is all fine mesh without the solid plastic sides I feel you get better water flow thru it. I am sure you know that an unfiltered tank isn't going to sustain them for long. If you want to keep them in the 1 gal pick up a sponge filter for the tank, it just works off of an airline and should work for now until they get a little bigger and need more filtration.
Good luck!

[SkarloeysMom]

Thanks Kimmers! I'll look for a net with a finer mesh. I'm pretty sure they are too small for the breeding box right now. I don't want to have to keep changing the water in the tank they're in now so maybe the breeder net would work best.

[SkarloeysMom]

The majority of my fry are free swimming now so I put some really fine crushed up flake food in there. Since yesterday's cleaning it looks like I've only lost 3. I still haven't had time to go look for a breeder's net. I probably won't be able to today since my son is home and not wanting to go anywhere.

If I test the water and its OK I guess I can just leave them where their at, right? Might be easier on them than moving them again.

[Algenco]

I would not move them. They have survived this long so the water can't be too bad. Be careful about trying to feed crushed flake, it will most likely still be too large for them. There should be enough infusoria in to keep them going for a week or so until they are large enough for other foods

[SkarloeysMom]

I would not move them. They have survived this long so the water can't be too bad. Be careful about trying to feed crushed flake, it will most likely still be too large for them. There should be enough infusoria in to keep them going for a week or so until they are large enough for other foods

Thanks Algenco! I will leave where they are. Its just too hard to deal with them now since they are so small. I'll give them a week and see how big they get. I just looked up "infusoria." Thanks for the new word too. I used to just call that stuff tank crud.:ezpi_wink1: I'll go fish out the rest of floating flakes now so I don't pollute the water.

[AquaQueen]

You may be able to find a breeder net that again, is made with a very fine mesh and it hangs on the side of the tank. Since it is all fine mesh without the solid plastic sides I feel you get better water flow thru it.

I'm sorry I have to disagree with ya on this one Kimmers...I have had both the mesh nursery and the plastic one and I'd use that plastic one before I'd touch the mesh one again. I had my babies(Molly's) in the plastic one and someone told me to put them into the mesh one for exactly the reason you stated and they all ended up dying because the water inside there was all slimy and got
green really fast, where the plastic one had housed them for almost a month and they were all fine then two weeks in the mesh and everyone died. So IMO those ones are no good! BTW-I have to agree with you on Everything else.:22:

[SkarloeysMom]

Since I already have the plastic one I'll probably just wait until these guys grow up a little and then put them in there. Right now they would probably just swim out of the holes in it and get eaten. (not sure how smart fry are)

I never did get a chance to go to the fish store today. I got side tracked on this huge cleaning project in my son's room.

[AquaQueen]

I got side tracked on this huge cleaning project in my son's room

Ohhh I got one of those to do....mine is my daughters tho...5days ago she found the tote I had hidden in her closet with all of the Lego's that my two boys have gotten over the past 6yrs or so and dumped it...also all the baby & barbie doll crap she has is EVERYWHERE and I have refused to clean it because she is going to be 5 on Monday and old enough to do it herself...I will help her do it tomorrow before our busy long weekend of BBQ's & parties.

Since I already have the plastic one I'll probably just wait until these guys grow up a little and then put them in there.
You know that honestly sounds like the best idea. I would at least go to the LPS and pick up one of them sponge filters that Kimmers was talking about to help clean the water some. Also the brine shrimp...helps the fry grow alot faster, you can buy it frozen or even hatch your own.

[SkarloeysMom]

Thanks for the tips, y'all! One thing, I'm not sure what a sponge filter is or how to use it. Can you post a link to one somewhere so I'll know what to look for next time I go to PetSmart?

So my son's room started as just cleaning out the clothes he's outgrown and turned into this clean fest. I can't believe how much crap was stored in there. I had 4 boxes of tile for mosaics that should be in the garage. What was I thinking! I think I put it in there when he was a baby and he didn't have all the toys he has now. Man, you sure can accumulate a lot of stuff in 4 and a half years!! I see a garage sale in my future.

[AquaQueen]

Here I went to Dr'sFosterandSmith.com and searched for their Sponge Filters and this is what I got...http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004&Np=1&Ntt=sponge%20filters&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=All&Nty=1&pc=1 There are alot of them out there...I am pretty sure most pet stores use these..alot of the ones I go to do. I love Dr's F & S they have everything you need for all of your pets...some things are pretty cheap too. I have ordered from they a few times...I get the catalogs in the mail so I can send a check. Look around on the site ya may like it and want add it to your faves.

[MeganL3985]

I've already accumulated plenty in my daughters closet over the past 2 years...so 4 1/2, I can definitely see something like that in my future! haha

[AquaQueen]

Oh yea...I have had four Yard sales this summer alone and still have five toy bins/chest's in my daughters room and three in my son's, they have some stuff on shelves in their closet's too...Lot's of junk! I have had ten years to accumulate it all...lol I always get rid of stuff in the fall because ya gotta make room for the stuff "Santa" brings...lol

[SkarloeysMom]

Just wanted to update ya'll on the fry. I've only got 7 left but they seem to be doing well. I found Hakari First Bites fry food today at PS so I got it and they are glupping it down. Hopefully they'll do better on that than on the crushed flake food I was giving them. I also found a brine shrimp net so when the time comes to net them I'll be able to. Right now I'm using it to net out the extra food. So when are these guys gonna be big enough to put in the main tank?

Oh and Megan and AquaQueen, I know what y'all are talking about! Gotta so the Fall clean out to make way for Christmas...YIKES! I still need to get rid of stuff but I'm gonna wait till the boy is in the giving mood! HAHA!

[ruecole]

Hi Skarloey's Mom,

I just found this thread and was wondering if you've still got your babies? Have fast did they grow? Did you eventually move them into the breeder?

Thanks!

Rue