Fish Babies! Help!

[Fish_Girl]

i have just noticed atleast 2 fish babies in my community tank-im not even sure if they are honey gourami or balloon mollie babies!! is there anyway i can tell? they are about 1/2 cm and look sooooo cute!! however im worried that some of my other fish might eat them i have just got 3 chain loach-is there a chance they will eat the babies? i also have a pair of zebra danios-any chance these will?

as i wasnt expecting babies(have only been keeping fish a few weeks!!!) i have no idea how to care for them!! im guessing i need to get some sort of fry food? is there any other care i need to know about? i know the likely hood of these babies surviving is slim, but i want to try my hardest still!

any help and advice is very much appreciated!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

go to your lfs and get a breeding trap, put them in there then nothing else can eat them, there's loads of different sorts of fry food you can get, liquid ones and that sort of thing. I've never tried to raise fry so not my field of expertise but get yourself down to your LFS sharpish and get the trap and ask about food there.

oh and congratulations mummy!

 

[Fish_Girl]

awww thankyou! must say im extremely excited! definately a pleasant surprise!

would i leave the breeding trap in the fish tank? sorry if thats a dumb question-as i said im a complete newbie to this!!

 

[karen84]

I would say their molly fry. you can feed them flake food but crush it up really small so they can fit it in their mouth. you can put them in a net for a while but not too long as nets may cause a stunt in the frys growth. Yeah you leave the net in the tank

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah it's a sort of box with net around it (well the one I have is, maybe you can get others, i don't know) that you suspend in your tank, put the fry in it and then the other fish can't get them to eat them.

If you wanted to start breeding and raising them then you should set up a fry tank but that's for more consideration later I'd say. A trap will only cost a few quid and do the job for now

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

my trap cost £3:50 so there not expensive i would guess they are mollie fry

 

[Fish_Girl]

thankyou for all the replies guys-brilliant advice!
ive not long came back from the fish shop after buying my own test kit LOL wish id have noticed the fry before then!! hehe shall go back out in a minute and pick one up and maybe ask about fry food while im there.
i dont really want to start breeding them to be honest, its just nice to have a little surprise like this
will keep you all updated! and let you know when ive got them in the trap(its gonna be tricky finding them and then getting them into it-anyone got any tips for this? i keep losing them!! )

 

[Miss Wiggle]

fry will naturally hide in plants or decor, take it out of the tank and you'll see them much easier...... your other fish might see them easier too though so best to get them quick But they don't swim too fast in general so they're not likely to be getting away from you the way adult fish do when you try to catch them.

 

[Fish_Girl]

i dont know-the little blighters were swimming pretty fast earlier! LOL i think they are hiding in one of the plants at the moment actually as thats where they both swam towards. one of them was hiding in the pyramid i have in the tank earlier-he looked so cute and lost in there! hehe

 

[Miss Wiggle]

awwww bless good luck with them, let us know how you get on

 

[Fish_Girl]

right i need some more help. just got back from the fish shop with the only fry/breeding trap they had-its called "interpet liquifry fresh flow breeding unit" im having a really hard time trying to figure out what on earth you do with it!
the instructions say to connect my air supply to the air diffuser??huh says an aqua mini is ideal??
it then says to regulate the flow to the spray bar by using the dial on the end of the spray bar???

what on earth does all this mean??? did i need to get something else for it? does that mean i cant use it yet? im so frustrated-i just wanted something to put the fry in so they were safe, but i cannot understand this thing at all can someone please help?

i also picked up some tetraminbaby powder food. hope thats ok for them!

 

[chickpea1980]

I have no idea how to add a pic to messages so i hope u can see my avatar ok as this is what I used. Its just a small net with a plastic surround that hooks over the edge of the tank. Its just called a fish breeding net. Pretty basic but its all you need to protect the babies til they're a bit bigger. I use powder fry food. I think the liquid food is really for egg born fish. Sorry, prob a bit late now that you have already bought something. x

 

[Fish_Girl]

i cant see your avi, but i know what you are on about as thats what i went looking for at the fish shop. all the had was the one i got-i got it as i didnt want to come home empty handed and i thought it better then nothing but now im wondering if thats true! lol
gosh ive only been a baby fish mommy for a few hours and its already stressing me out


im just wondering if mine could be used without all the air diffuser/spray bar rubbish-just connect it to the tank with the suckers and put the fry in it? might give it a try!!

edited to add that i can see your avi now, and yep thats the one i was after!

 

[chickpea1980]

I'm sure you could still use it with out all the fancy stuff. Before I got the net, I used an empty squash bottle, made a few tiny holes in it and tied it inside the tank with a rubber band! Changed the water every other day to circulate it but it worked! Anything will do when ur a desperate mummy!

 

[Fish_Girl]

thanks for that. i have been looking for them for a while now and even put my net in to rustle the plants and lifted the pyramid but i cant find them anyone know how i could tempt them out if they are still about? i really hope they are