Holy Moley- is it possible???????

[TwoTankAmin]

I am seeing more fry. I am thinking more have been hatching out. I am also seeing them venture farther away from where they hide. They are definitely curious. I have some of the Ebo finely powdered brine shimp which I am dropping into the tank above theri hifing place. I am hoping they will actually get some of it. The size is way to small for the other fish to even notice. But there is a problem in how I set up their clownn tank back when it was 75 gal. But I also see them graving the algae and biofilm in the rock pile.

What has me worrtied is I am not seeing the bigger fry I spotted initially, I am seeing more smaller ones. So I am wondering iif the forst hatchees are now hiding more or if they got eaten. All of this is very new to me and I feel very help;ess ias i cannot do anything to help [reserve the fry if they are being eaten. The fry hide if they are scared and I could never get a net near them. It is not possible to siphon them put either as the tank if big and very well planted with lots of vertical wood with anubias, It is also a deeper tank. The logistics are not conducive for spawning related activities on my part in terms of protecting them or catching them. I never imagined I would see clown fry in any of my tanks, so I did not prepare for that happening.

When I set up their first big tank, a 75, I chose as the substrate a larger rounded gravel. I should have done sand. But there was also an interesting side effect from my choice. The food can slip into the space between the larger rounded pebbles. You would think this would be a problem. if the fish cannot get the at this food it is a bad thng in terms of their eating. it can also be a problem of having uneaten food rotting just below the surface.

But the fish proved to be pretty smart. They learned to dig in the larger gravel by picking up individual stones and tossing them. This enabled them to get the food that sunk a bit lower into the substrate. They have now been doing this for over 22- years. Even more interesting is I had too many clowns early on as I was given 4 bigger ones because I got somebody about 20 free used and drilled tanks. So, one of my mentors in my early years agreed to take a couple of my clowns off my hands and I shipped them to him.

We hung out in the same forun which had a chat function. I went into the chat one day and this person got me into a private chat. He wanted to let me know that my clowns had taught his to pick up and throw stones around his tank. He was a bit annoyed. So much for wondering how smart some fish might be. First they figured out how to pick up and toss the stones and then that other fish learned how to do this as well speaks volumes on the subject of how some fish might be, imo.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Update-

Yesterday I almost finished doing maint. and a 50%+ water change on the tank, I say almost because I am getting ready to do the semi-annual on which I am late on the canister filter. But what I noticed last night and again this morning that the barbs were hanging out near where the baby clowns are and the smallest barb was even where I expected it would to go to eat them. I have also seen their numbers shrink and the sizes as well. This made me conclude that the eggs might not all hatch at the same time.

I was worried last night and moreso a couple of hours ago when I check the tank. I was halfway expecting not to see any fry. But there were some there as i watched for a bit. When I go to the part of the tank to watch closely it spooks the fish and they go to the other end. About a minute after this happened, saw fry coming out. This time I decided I needed to take action to protect them.

It this were a smaller and shallower tank I could have worked to siphon them out. But in this situation they would emerge from the other end of the siphon moving very fast and would likely be blown into the sides of any bucket hard enough tho kill or severely damage them. I needed to figure a way to divide the tank. I have eggcrate, but would have needed to cut it into a precise shape to make it fit properly. Fortunately I had a potential alternative.

Some time ago I wanted to be able to divide 40bs and a 50 gal which are both 18 inches wide (front to back) but different heights. I had bough a sheet of Poret foam 10 ppi and big enough to reach the edge of the top frame in the 50. To make it be able to be used in a 40B I slice a piece off of the top. That way it fit into the 40B, To use it in a the 50 I shaved down the piece I cut off into a strip which when placed on top odd the big sheet would fit properly in the 50B. I also save almost all the Poret scraps I get when cutting sheets to size or making pre-filters.

Using the above sheet and strip and then scraps I managed to create a barrier between the fry area and the rest of the tank, The biggest problem is that the spraybar return for the canister is in along the end where the fry are. I managed to create a slit sized gap at the tap of the divide to let flow though from the spraybar, but the rate on the outside of the barrier had clearly been reduced.

If I must, I can add an air stone in the the tank. But, the sheet dividing the fry area is only 10 ppi foam and the sheet is only 2 inches thick which should allow water to pass in either direction pretty easily. I know the fish cannot get above, around or under the foam dividier. Byt the fry muight be able to find a tiny way through. If they di I am not sure they could find their way back. Th rocks wirh algae and Aufwuchs are still available to the fry and I will add some food they can manage as well.

Hopefully this is tha path towards having some fry survive. I too picks of the set-up and will post them later.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here are the promised pics of the division. The fry see, to like hanging out against the foam. And I still see one or ttwo ont the "wrong" side. When I try to catch them in a big fine mesh net the bolt. They either go bat into the ir area or else into the wood and rick plie in the moddle of the tank. I cleaned the filter which really needed it. I can see the flow now going through the foam and the gap at the top so I am less worried. I am thinking this should make the odds of having fry make it much better.

 

[anewbie]

If you get a chance see if you can get a good picture of them to identify species