how big do fry need to be...

[peter101]

my 2 week-old fry are producing quite a mess in their little 3 gallon, and a lot seem to be dieing-they're dropping like flys. i dont know what the problem is. i've been on top of water changes- twice a week 30%. there is no filter running, simply because im afraid they are strong enough swimmers against the current of the intake. is it possible for my to but a pleco in there for a while - just to get things cleaned up? there is quite a bit of algea, but i've already been throuhg the major bloom.
any thoughts?

 

[MAM]

you can add them to the main tank again when they are too big to fit in the mouths of the adult fish, thats a good rule to go by.
what kind of fry do you have? i have a small filter the penn plex makes esp. for small tanks, and its the sponge in a box variety, so the fry don't get sucked up into it (go to www.thatfishplace.com, and search under filter/submersible). works great in my 2 gal fry tank. also, try cleaning more often. the water changes are probably good, but clean the bottom of the tank every day. i have a substate-less tank becasue its easier to clean, but since gravel vacs are usually too big and powerful to use in a tank that small, try using a turkey baster and suck up uneatern food and poo everyday, the ammonia from the waste is probably whats killing them (unless of course this tank was an uncycled tank to begin with, then you have a whole mess of other problems). i wouldn't recommend putting your plec in there though.

 

[guppymonkey]

Livebearer fry (such as baby guppies, platies or mollies) can swim immediately after they are born. In the wild this gives them a major advantage over egglaying fish. In the tank they also have an advantage, since they can swim immediately keeping the filter on isn't usually a problem. When the fry are first born they are weak enough to get sucked into a power filter sometimes. But usually its not a problem at all.

 

[ruffmeister]

ive had fry stuck in my filter check the thread in my sig to read about how i saved a fry in the filter after spotting it 10 days after the fish gave birth

 

[Mamaschild]

With a fry tank, I simply rubberband a nylon stocking (knee-high ) over the inlet. It will slow the flow a little, and MUST be kept clean. You will need to remove it ever couple days to rinse it off, but just turn off the filter when you do this and no problem

 

[Feline]

If u have frys in a 3 gallon, u can use the Penn Plax small world filter just as Many a Molly said, because that's what I'm using as well. Even frys as small as new borns won't suck up the filter. U can also adjust the air going into the filter as well, so the water current can be more gentle if u want to.

Perhaps it's the lack of enough oxygen that caused their lil lives.

How many times a day do u feed them?

Also check the water parameters. Is the fry tank cycled yet?
*I can't go on the link on ur first one in ur signature*

 

[peter101]

thanx all
just to clear up some of the questions, they are platy fry. she gave a huuuge batch (tryed to count approx. 60-70). these are not including the fry that iddn't completely develope. I am now reduced to about 7-8 and i want to save these guys! they were definatly tyhe strongest of the bunch. The tank was well cycled before putting them in and i ran a bare bottom tank cleaning with a turkey baister about 3 times a week. I tryed to get around to feeding them about twice a day (when i wake up and when i get back from school).
I also thought that it may have been a problem with oxygen which is why i filled about 1/4th of the tank with oxygen and split my large amazon sword and took a small bunch and put it into the tank.
im running the filter that comes with the three gallon ecplise tank. it's just a really mini, mini penguin bio-wheel (not officially but runs in the same way.
the current from the filter is a little on the stronger side but now that the remaining fry are getting pretty big it's not that much of a problem.
every three or four days in check the filter and notice maybe a couple dead fry in the filter media. i'm not sure if these are fry that died in the tank or died after being sucked up into the filter.
i watch the tank pretty often and most of the fish can swim fast enough away from the intake that i doesn't really affect them which leads me to believe that the fry had already died before being sucked up into the filter.
i guess i'll through the pregnant platy in a breeder again and add some more fry to the tank!

 

[Juggernaut22988]

I use a bowl filter so when my fish have frys they wont be sucked in as easily