Do I need water from the parent’s tank?

[wtusa17]

There's a couple of good things to point out when moving fry to a new tank...
1) There's nothing to be gained by [also] transferring polluted water from the parents tank.
2) Unlike full grown fish, fry, even many, generate very little ammonia. moving a sponge filter from another established tank probably has sufficient BB to handle the slight ammonia generated. You can add BB supplements, but I've never found it necessary.
3) For the very best fry health and growth, do frequent sufficient water changes to ensure a high [fresh] water quality.
4) Remember that unlike adult fish, fry need to be fed small amounts frequently 3 or more times a day. I feed new fry every 2-3~ hours during the day. (Like 8am, noon, 3, 5, 7) giver or take.

Ok thanks. This is my first time having fry so I don’t have any experience

 

[Retired Viking]

I agree with @AbbeysDad , I have tetra fry and I also make the flakes into small pieces like dust so it is easier for the fry to eat.

 

[wtusa17]

I agree with @AbbeysDad , I have tetra fry and I also make the flakes into small pieces like dust so it is easier for the fry to eat.

That’s what I’ve been doing. I know companies sell fry food. Is that just a marketing thing?

 

[Retired Viking]

I have looked for it at the LFS but they did not carry it so I do not know if it is any good or not.

 

[Byron]

Livebearer fry are large enough to be able to eat powdered flake food from the start. Just use your fingertips to crush a flake or two to powder and let it float. As these are mollies, the "vegetarian" base flakes are best, like Omega One's Kelp Flake.

Dried leaves also help; the infusoria produced as the leaves decompose is ideal food for all fry, and experiments have shown the fry develop faster with dried leaves in the tank. I use oak leaves collected from my rear garden in the autumn, but most any hardwood (non-fruit) is fine. Or you can buy almond leaves in some fish stores.

 

[AbbeysDad]

That’s what I’ve been doing. I know companies sell fry food. Is that just a marketing thing?

Yes and no. As @Byron points out, fry food is nothing more than powdered quality fish food. If you have a quality flake food, you can 'grind' between a thumb and forefinger. I put a handful in my Magic Bullet and powder it in a jiffy. Once the fry grow out some, you squash the flakes but yield larger than powdered pieces.
I also culture micro worms for my swordtail fry. A micro worm culture is inexpensive and they're easy to culture. I once cultured in oatmeal, but switched to instant mashed potatoes. The interesting thing is that yeast feeds off the potato slurry and the micro worms consume the yeast. Some wait to harvest until the worms rise up the sides of the container. I take a spoon and lightly rake the top of the culture and depsosit in a small container of water. I get a bit of potato slurry with the worms, but it's not an issue for the fish as it's food too. I then use a turkey baster to feed the fry.
(Note that there are also smaller banana and walter worms and vinegar eels that are used as live fry food.)

 

[wtusa17]

Livebearer fry are large enough to be able to eat powdered flake food from the start. Just use your fingertips to crush a flake or two to powder and let it float. As these are mollies, the "vegetarian" base flakes are best, like Omega One's Kelp Flake.

Dried leaves also help; the infusoria produced as the leaves decompose is ideal food for all fry, and experiments have shown the fry develop faster with dried leaves in the tank. I use oak leaves collected from my rear garden in the autumn, but most any hardwood (non-fruit) is fine. Or you can buy almond leaves in some fish stores.

These are electric blue acara and African cichlid fry

 

[Byron]

These are electric blue acara and African cichlid fry

Don't know where I got mollies form...sorry about that. For cichlid fry newly hatched brine shrimp is ideal. I will let others suggest alternatives, they know more.

 

[wtusa17]

Livebearer fry are large enough to be able to eat powdered flake food from the start. Just use your fingertips to crush a flake or two to powder and let it float. As these are mollies, the "vegetarian" base flakes are best, like Omega One's Kelp Flake.

Dried leaves also help; the infusoria produced as the leaves decompose is ideal food for all fry, and experiments have shown the fry develop faster with dried leaves in the tank. I use oak leaves collected from my rear garden in the autumn, but most any hardwood (non-fruit) is fine. Or you can buy almond leaves in some fish stores.

Don't know where I got mollies form...sorry about that. For cichlid fry newly hatched brine shrimp is ideal. I will let others suggest alternatives, they know more.

Yea no problem just wanted to make sure you knew. How can I hatch bbs?

 

[Byron]

Yea no problem just wanted to make sure you knew. How can I hatch bbs?

I did this back in the 1980's for my Apistogramma kleii and angelfish fry. You can buy the brine shrimp eggs in fish/pet stores (presumably they still have these), and hatch them in marine (salt) water using an airstone to keep the eggs tumbling around. A small jar like a 1 liter works. Water needs to be warm too. As they hatch, you use a small net to net out a bunch of the shrimp and dump them into the tank. I think I may have used a basting tool...it was a long time ago!