baby fish dying

[corylover5]

3 weeks ago my dalmatian molly had 32 fry. I netted out the fry and put them in a breeder box. I feed them Hikari first bites 5 times a day and I have some java moss and duckweed in the breeder box with them. My water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 7 nitrate, and 7.6 PH. Each day I will find 1 or 2 more dead and I have no idea why. One minute they are swimming and eating and the next they're dead. I'm now down to 2 molly fry and I really want them to live. Would it be a good idea to release them into my main tank? They are still very small and definitely the size to be eaten. Would they have a better chance of surviving in my main tank or in the breeder box? Why are they all dying? I make sure to clean any extra food and waste from my breeder box twice daily.

 

[Salty&Onion]

I'd put them in breeder box in your tank and see whether they survive and reduce feeding. The feeding could have caused an unexpected ammonia spike.

 

[corylover5]

The breeder box is in my tank. Would 3 feedings daily be good for them?

 

[corylover5]

I really want these 2 to make it. I was so upset when the 1 albino fry died

 

[Salty&Onion]

One day -> feed them twice, small pinches of food as there are only two survivors.

Then feed them 3 times, small pinches of food. And then like and like that until they grow a little to not to be eaten by adult fish.

 

[Colin_T]

pictures of the fish?

if fish ever get sick or start dying, do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate. This will dilute disease organisms in the water and help improve water quality (if that is the issue), and buy some time to work out what is going on.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It’s normal to lose some but not all of them. I keep my fry in a 10G Bare bottom tank. I clean the bottom each day with a turkey Baster.

 

[corylover5]

pictures of the fish?

if fish ever get sick or start dying, do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate. This will dilute disease organisms in the water and help improve water quality (if that is the issue), and buy some time to work out what is going on.

I already disposed of the dead ones but as disease goes I just had an ich outbreak from a sick fish I brought home and the babies were born in the middle of it. I had my tank at 86 degrees for 3 weeks to kill off the ich. Could that have effected the babies?

 

[Derekshatch]

That has happened to me with fry in a breeder box if you want to increase survival chance put them in a seperate tank. I had 20 platy fry and was left with 5 when I used a breeder box. When I used a seperate tank I got 25 out of 30 to survive.

 

[Derekshatch]

I dont think that mollies would die from ick considering that they are realley hardy. Atleast in my opinion it wasnt the ick that killed them. I had an outbreak of ick that killed all my tetras but no ich showed up on any of my mollies or platys.

 

[corylover5]

That has happened to me with fry in a breeder box if you want to increase survival chance put them in a seperate tank. I had 20 platy fry and was left with 5 when I used a breeder box. When I used a seperate tank I got 25 out of 30 to survive.

I have an empty 10 gallon tank that I would love to use for the fry. I also have a sponge filter and air stone for it too. Unfortunately I have no where to put the tank.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I have an empty 10 gallon tank that I would love to use for the fry. I also have a sponge filter and air stone for it too. Unfortunately I have no where to put the tank.

Is there a way you could do a double tier stand so you could have it under one of the other tanks?

 

[corylover5]

That's a really good idea but I don't think it would work. My 29 gallon is on my dresser and there are no areas to put a tank and my two 5 gallons are on a really small table that is 2 feet off the ground with a bin of fish supplies underneath.

 

[Colin_T]

Baby fish are very susceptible to ich because they have small bodies and newly developed gills. If there were white spot parasites in the tank and they attached to the baby fish, that could easily kill the fish.

The 30C (86F) water temperature will not normally kill baby fish. if anything they grow faster in the warmer water.

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Post pictures of the remaining fish so we can check them for diseases.

 

[corylover5]

Baby fish are very susceptible to ich because they have small bodies and newly developed gills. If there were white spot parasites in the tank and they attached to the baby fish, that could easily kill the fish.

The 30C (86F) water temperature will not normally kill baby fish. if anything they grow faster in the warmer water.

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Post pictures of the remaining fish so we can check them for diseases.

I will post pics tomorrow as my phone turns off at 10:00 each night and I can't get my camera to work until tomorrow.