Fry Tank Help

[Harlequins]

Hi all

update on 39 day fishless cycle is now fish in,(32 fry actually),readings have been zero for 3 days
I've now put my eheim aquaball 2006 filter in there and attached a stocking sock on the bottom to stop fry getting sucked up.There is also a sponge filter (worked on an airpump)in there,which was used on the original fishless cycle.

Today i noticed the aquaball had slowed down,upon checking it, the stocking had become clogged with gunk,i was quite surprised that fry could make so much!! anyway i cleaned it out etc and now flow is good again

So my questions are can i take out the sponge filter and add an airstone instead? Hoping the aquaball will take on the load of the fry and support it when they grow bigger without spikes.
Whens the best time to remove the stocking from the filter?,obviously if the stocking part is clogging after 3 days,i will have to keep cleaning it,or is it best to take it off and hope the fry can avoid getting sucked up? and if this is sticking on the stocking is that stopping the filter from getting its bio load?

Sorry for so many questions,i am learning all the time from you experts

 

[waterdrop]

Ask any new parents. Having new babies means there's fussy stuff to do, lol. Having to change a filter baby sock every three days is not so bad. They'll quickly outgrow these needs probably, although I'm not the one to ask for how soon. Also, if what you've got is working and the fish are doing well, why make any changes now? You'd just be experimenting on your babies!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

You had a long hard cycle with that sponge filter if you remember Harlequin. I really don't think you should start going through that again with a new filter when you have fish in the tank.