Cycling My New Fry Tank

[HeatherW]

So I just bought a little 2 gallon tank for platy fry.
Also I got a small light that emits heat as well.
And I got a tiny little filter.

The gravel is new. The plastic plants are new.
It was filled with water from my main tank that is cycled and has fish in it.

Will it need to fishless cycle? Or is the cycling done since the water in there was fine?
I'm expecting fry in under a week.

Also, is the temperature likely to fluctuate too much with the light on during the day and off at night?

How quickly does 2 gallons of water go from 78 degrees to room temperature?
Will it bother the fry greatly if they have this fluctuation from the beginning?
Or should I invest in a 7.5 watt heater?

Thanks,
Heather

 

[Bryan1957]

The light will definately cause problems if you leave it on for long periods of time. Your fish won't like the temperature changes that will happen between the light on and off if the water is heated by the light. If your bulb socket is a regular bulb socket, there are fluorescent bulbs available that won't heat the water as much as an incandescant bulb. I replaced all the incandescant bulbs in my small tanks with compact fluorescent bulbs. Walmart has them for about $4.00.
You should invest in a heater and thermometer, I use the kind of thermometer that attaches to the inside of the tank, not the adhesive strip type that is put on the outside.
If you have a week before the fry are born, you can take the new filter and put it in your old tank to run along with the old filter. Most of the bacteria is in your filter, not the water. What kind of filter do you have?
A 2 gallon tank won't be able to keep the fry for very long so be prepared to move them in a month or so.

Bryan

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with brian, the light will cause alot of issues since you will have to turn if off every night and this will cause temperature fluctions, and this will put the fry's lives at risk since they are very sensitive to changes in the tank enviroment- you really need to get a heater, and if you can't get one small enough for a 2gal tank you will need to get a larger fry tank.
A 2gal tank as previously mentioned will not be able to hold the fry for very long at all, its not that much better than a breeding net and will not be able to raise the fry to half grown in it even if you have very few- the easiest way to cycle a fry tank is to run the new fry tank filter along side your mature/cycled one in your current tank for a week and then simply move it to the fry tank when you put fry in it, unfortunatly mature tank water will do little to cycle the filter alone as you need a constant source of ammonia to keep it cycled so you need to either use the method i just mentioned(i.e cloning) or do a fishless cycle .