In Desperate Need Of Fry Help

[alwyzchanging]

So I actually got these fry from my local pet store, I started out with about 20 and I'm only down to about 8 I have a friend thats really into fish and he had told me I could just put them into a tank and they didn't need a filter/heater since they were small. Buut since mine have been dying, I don't think thats the case. Ive been reading that they need to be in temp. of 75-80 deg. and they do need a filter with a sponge around the end so they wont get sucked up into it. My question is- is this all I need to do or do I need to add the sponge in it as well? (I've been reading about people putting sponges in their tanks but I'm really not sure why this is done or if it needs to be done) Been feeding them ground-up fish food. Current temp is 72 deg. Anyway, I'm a novice, so any help is appreciated

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to TFF Alwyzchanging.
A lot depends on which species of fish you are keeping. Depending on the species you may want to add a heater to your tank. There is no such thing as a fish that does not need a filter so you do need one. One kind of filter is called a sponge filter and looks like this. My own sponge in the picture is large enough for a 40 gallon breeder tank so it is likely far larger than any you would need for your fry tank.

You can also buy filters that hang on the back of the tank or others that are placed within the tank. All of them do much the same thing for your fish. They circulate water through some form of filter medium that eventually develops a bacterial colony that can deal with the ammonia that the fish produce. Until that bacterial colony develops, you are in what we call a fish-in cycle situation. In that situation you change water quite often to maintain good water chemistry. If you are down to 8 fry, you could probably get away with daily 20% water changes using a decent dechlorinator for the new water. After about 6 to 8 weeks of that, a new filter that has been in the tank the whole time will probably be mature enough to handle the ammonia being produced and you could cut back to about a once per week 30% water change to remove nitrate build ups.
We have a fish-in cycling thread that you can find by following the link in my signature area.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with all that OldMan said. No such fish as a fish that doesn't need a filter (you need to read up on water quality & cycling tanks etc, fundamental to keeping fish successfully- check out this link: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ ). A heater will help prevent the tank becomming too cold or fluctuating in temperature loads.
Also, IMO even if the fry are just common fish like guppys or platys, being fry they are still a lot more sensitive to shock & water quality conditions etc, so it is generally not a good idea to buy fry (its a big stress on them being moved from tank to tank when they are very small, surival rates tend to be much higher when you breed your own fish & raise your own homebred fry in their own tank from scratch etc).

 

[alwyzchanging]

I agree with all that OldMan said. No such fish as a fish that doesn't need a filter (you need to read up on water quality & cycling tanks etc, fundamental to keeping fish successfully- check out this link: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ ). A heater will help prevent the tank becomming too cold or fluctuating in temperature loads.
Also, IMO even if the fry are just common fish like guppys or platys, being fry they are still a lot more sensitive to shock & water quality conditions etc, so it is generally not a good idea to buy fry (its a big stress on them being moved from tank to tank when they are very small, surival rates tend to be much higher when you breed your own fish & raise your own homebred fry in their own tank from scratch etc).

Great, now I understand! So I actually purchased a heater and regular filter for the tank but Ive still had the problem of them dying. It makes sense about them being delicate. I think I will try and breed them myself. I dont remember exactly where I read this, but I do remember reading that to breed guppies, 3 females for 1 male is recommended for breeding? Please correct me if Im wrong, and any specific info on breeding would be much appreciated! (I think Ill end up searching this forum anyway cuz Im sure theres info on here about it here)

 

[OldMan47]

The typical ratio if you are going to leave the males and females together is 3 or more females to each male. If you are doing line breeding or are trying to develop a new strain, you will put together one of each fish long enough for the female to receive some viable sperm. After that separating the sexes will remove any need for a specific ratio. In the meantime, no filter is ready to use right out of the box. It needs to be cycled to support fish without doing frequent large water changes. If you have an uncycled filter, the correct number of fish to add is easy to state, it is none at all. You and your fish will be far better off if you get their new filter cycled before adding any fish.
There is a link in my signature area to a decent article on how to do a fish-in cycle.