Best Baby Growing Tank

[TimNorwich]

Ok I am setting up my 25L tank tonight, it has a heater, and I'll be using an air filter as filtration so to not suck up the babies.

The tank will be for raising mainly Bristlenose Plec fry, I have around 40 babies that I hope to grow up in there until they are a bit bigger and can fend for themselves in my main tank (mainly worried about them getting sucked into the filter) they will also be easier to feed in the 25L.

I have recently been giving around 50 Cherry Shrimp too and I can see some of the females are carrying eggs, so would quite like to raise some of the baby shrimps too.

I have bred cherry shrimps before and know that the fry are as good as microscopic, will the baby plecs feed on the baby shrimps?

What do you reccomend I put in the tank, a thin layer of sand, any bogwood or plants? I'm thinking about ease of cleaning really.

Thankyou, also feel free to post pictures of your baby tanks

 

[KkAaNnEe]

You will deff need some wood for the plecs, plants are always good but are not a neccessity. You could even go bare bottom for extra algae for the plecs

 

[TimNorwich]

I understand bare bottom tanks aren't good for beneficial bacteria, am I likely to have issues with my water with bare bottom?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

All the bacteria should be on your sponge filter

 

[minnnt]

I had a bare bottom once... It was filthy!

LOL, i tried it once with one of my fry tanks and i couldn't stand it, it was so messy. But people swear by them.

Bog wood would be a good addition to the tank, but i have seen people raise BN's with nothing in the tank. Plants would also help slightly with any unwanted undesireable water conditions.

 

[TimNorwich]

Is it worth keeping them in a fry tank? Will they grow well enough in the water providing I keep it clean? It's definetly the tank to use for Cherry Shrimp babies as they are so small!

 

[minnnt]

I would definately keep them in a fry tank. A simple sponge air driven filter would be fine i think. Try and do a decent water change each week, probably 50-60% which will help dramatically imo. I would try and source a bigger tank if possible, maybe something that is 18" long at least. The small tank you currently have is perfect for shrimp!!

 

[TimNorwich]

Ok that's useful, I was worried about water changes, and how much I should do as I know it helps them grow if they have clean fresh water.

I plan to have a very thin layer of sand and a bit of bogwood as a centre piece and nothing else.

 

[minnnt]

I know someone who breeds starlight bn's and he just has the spawning cone in the tank similar to what would be added to a breeding angels tank. No bogwood, no substrate and they grow like no tomorrow. Weird. Bogwood would be something i would definately add to the tank. With you having such a small tank, you could easily change 10 litres of water twice a week which would equate to about 80% a week... This should lead to healthy quicker growing fish.

 

[TimNorwich]

Is 80% a week too much? I'd of thought that wouldn't of left much beneficial water over.

Will the sponge filter actually have much bacteria on it?

 

[This Old Spouse]

The sponge carries almost all of the beneficial bacteria, so you can do water changes to your heart's delight.

 

[TimNorwich]

That's good to know, I have just put the babies into the tank, hopefully they all get on alright! I've had the sponge filter in my main tank for around a week, and when I cleaned the sponges in the main tank I left the sponge filter in the dirty water, that sounds bad but I think it's a correct way of doing it

 

[minnnt]

It's not the best way, but an effective way of setting up a tank quickly when needed. Good luck with them!!