7 Fry In A Newly Cycled Tank

[stiffler69]

Hi all just had a very good suprise 1 of my female platys gave birth to some fry and i managed to get 7 of them into the breeding net this was all i could see in the tank and even went to a extreme of moving the plants just so i could catch them. Now even bigger of a suprise is the tank is actually only 2 weeks old it cycled for 7 days and i introduced 3 platys on the the 8th day so they have actually only been in the tank for 6 days in total. 2 of them looked pregnant when we purchased them but we were not expected them to give birth so quickly and. Ive put a new planting area near the heater so if anymore come there is plenty of places for them to hide in the warmth since this tank is at my mothers house i wont be there to see them so hopefully if anymore are due they will go straight into hiding in the plant area.

The question i have is how long is it good to leave the young platys in the beeding net

And also i put the two females in the breeding net this afternoon but neither give birth to anymore fry im thinking that they have done a full drop and only 7 survived the adult fish could i be wrong and they needed a little more time in the net?

 

[backtotropical]

Hi, congratulations on your fry. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if your tank only cycled for 7 days, it is not properly cycled. This will mean the water will almost certainly have a high concentration of ammonia which your filter will not have the capability to break down. This will almost certainly lead to death of your plattys, and young fry are particularly susceptible. I advise you to take the fry (and the adults if possible) to someone who has an established tank where they will not be exposed to ammonia. Maybe your local shop is best if you dont know anyone personally.

May i guess that it was the shop that told you to leave the water standing for a week and then add fish? This is terrible advice which is all too common from LFSs unfortunately.

If you can do that, we can then help you to set up your tank properly.

Hope this helps you.

 

[stiffler69]

Hi thanks for fast reply the filter i used for the tank was used in a tank already set up and i also used alot of the water in this tank from another tank i had set up for over a month and then allowed it to settle for 7 days until i added new fish as there was also new water in this combination it was also a well established tank and was not cleaned out so i did have alot of media what had already been cycled the fish are very healthy and showing no signs of ill health as are the fry all i want to know now is the questions i have asked thanks.

 

[backtotropical]

When you left it to settle for 7 days, did it have fish in? I ask because if the bacteria had no source of ammonia to feed from, ie. fish waste, they would have died, leaving your filter totally uncycled.

In answer to your question, if you dont want any other advice, the platys will be ok in the breeding net as long as they dont outgrow it. Make sure you remove poo and uneaten food regularly, and feed at least twice per day for about the first month.

 

[stiffler69]

Hi thanks again for the fast reply it was cycled for 7 days without any fish only plants in the tank on the 8th day i added the platys to the tank it would now be exactly a fortnight old with the fish only been in it for 6 days and all seems well at the moment if any problems with the health of the fish arrise i should then start doing 25% water changes daily then moving down to one every two days this seemed to help my other fish in my first tank when i had problems with them.

Thanks for the info on the net how is the best way to clean it cause you cant get into the bottom part where the poo goes to as it enclosed thanks.

 

[backtotropical]

i remove the waste from my breeding net by using a piece of airline tubing as a siphon.

It sounds like your filter is probably not cycled and i envisage problems. Do you have a test kit to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? If not, i urge you to get one. This can detect problems before the fish are effected, rather than waiting for the fish's behaviour to tell you there is a problem, as at this point, damage is already done.

 

[Musho3210]

did you somehow add ammonia in any form during the time when there were no fish, and please note that water from an established tank wont help speed up the cycle since like 99.9% of the bacteria you want is not waterborne.