New Tank ?

[Fraoch]

Ok so i need a tank really quickly for unexpected babies! if i got a small tank and filled it completely with water from a cycled tropical and coldwater tank and used filter media from a cycled tank, would this make the tank as good as cycled? And if i left it with the filter running for about 2-3 days could i put the babies in?

 

[nessar]

You would have to add ammonia to keep it ticking over and check the levels are going down enough.

depends on the bioload of the babies, but you might be able to put them in more or less straight away, not sure.

 

[Fraoch]

You would have to add ammonia to keep it ticking over and check the levels are going down enough.

depends on the bioload of the babies, but you might be able to put them in more or less straight away, not sure.

Thanks, em i dont have anywhere near to buy the cycling stuff or ammonia stuff?

 

[waterdrop]

In this situation you would be better off finding a "tank inside a tank" of some sort. There are plastic "nurseries" made to hang on the inside edge of a tank that have little slots too small for the fry to get out but that allow tank water to circulate. If you have livebearers, you should also consider that they will be having fry constantly and fry represent a significant increase in tank bioload (they breathe hard and grow fast, representing a larger bioload than there small size would make you think.) So another thing you could thus consider is a very heavy clump of hornwort or similar plant cover. You might lose a few of the fry but that's actually better in the long run. WD

 

[Fraoch]

In this situation you would be better off finding a "tank inside a tank" of some sort. There are plastic "nurseries" made to hang on the inside edge of a tank that have little slots too small for the fry to get out but that allow tank water to circulate. If you have livebearers, you should also consider that they will be having fry constantly and fry represent a significant increase in tank bioload (they breathe hard and grow fast, representing a larger bioload than there small size would make you think.) So another thing you could thus consider is a very heavy clump of hornwort or similar plant cover. You might lose a few of the fry but that's actually better in the long run. WD

Oh i forgot to say that its that kind of thing they are in right now but its getting too small
Its guppies i have so maybe i should find the females a new home and just stock males?

 

[AstonN24vantage]

what kinds of fish are we talking about?

 

[Fraoch]

what kinds of fish are we talking about?

it's guppies

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, many people keep just male guppies. WD

 

[nessar]

I would let the fry swim free. If they get eaten, they're free food. Also it will make sure only the strongest survive and you'll have healthy baby fish. And yeah maybe get rid of females, or keep females and get rid of males, but expect a few more drops.

My platties were breeding so I just fed less for a couple of days after they gave birth, and from 2 drops of fry only 1 baby survived (the gourami and molly ate most I think) - but he's robust as anything and bigger than any other platy ive seen

Although I've heard that guppies dont actively hunt their babies, so lots more of yours might survive.

 

[Fraoch]

I would let the fry swim free. If they get eaten, they're free food. Also it will make sure only the strongest survive and you'll have healthy baby fish. And yeah maybe get rid of females, or keep females and get rid of males, but expect a few more drops.

My platties were breeding so I just fed less for a couple of days after they gave birth, and from 2 drops of fry only 1 baby survived (the gourami and molly ate most I think) - but he's robust as anything and bigger than any other platy ive seen

Although I've heard that guppies dont actively hunt their babies, so lots more of yours might survive.

ah, i think i might do that!
Though i do have a pair of dwarf gouramis and ive heard they eat guppy fry, so i expect most wont survive

 

[nessar]

Trust me, they'll have many more!

 

[Fraoch]

Trust me, they'll have many more!

haha yeh i suspect all 6 of my females are pregnant :L

 

[Fraoch]

My plan is to get my females a new home but they are all pregnant so i've borrowed a small tank and filled it with some water from when i was changing the water in my tropical tank, so i can seperate the females from the males and let them have their fry.
Can i just put the females in or do i have to let the filter run for a while?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, its really an unfortunate truth that "working biofilters" (a filter with enough live bacteria of the correct two species to actually process the ammonia and nitrite and keep the water healthy for the fish) take weeks or months to create, or that you need enough mature media from a previous filter put in them that they can carry the fish bioload they are with.

You do have one other option in your emergency situation however. Since the tank is quite small, the very frequent water changes to *manually* care for the fish water will be quite possible, assuming you are dedicated. Yes, use your existing tank water (can't hurt) and get your new filter going (moving up to 1/3 of the media from the old filter (I forget if this is a possibility for you)) but then the really important thing would be to just treat the mom/fry tank as if it were in a fish-in cycle: test two times a day for ammonia and nitrite traces and based on that figure out a (probably frequent) pattern of percentage/frequency of water changes to ensure that these poisons are down close to zero ppm and that at least they don't spike up above 0.25ppm before you have a chance to be home and change water again. Always use 1.5x to 2x but not more than 2x the condition dose (the base dose being per the instructions on the bottle) and always roughly temperature match for the replacement tap water.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Fraoch]

Yes, its really an unfortunate truth that "working biofilters" (a filter with enough live bacteria of the correct two species to actually process the ammonia and nitrite and keep the water healthy for the fish) take weeks or months to create, or that you need enough mature media from a previous filter put in them that they can carry the fish bioload they are with.

You do have one other option in your emergency situation however. Since the tank is quite small, the very frequent water changes to *manually* care for the fish water will be quite possible, assuming you are dedicated. Yes, use your existing tank water (can't hurt) and get your new filter going (moving up to 1/3 of the media from the old filter (I forget if this is a possibility for you)) but then the really important thing would be to just treat the mom/fry tank as if it were in a fish-in cycle: test two times a day for ammonia and nitrite traces and based on that figure out a (probably frequent) pattern of percentage/frequency of water changes to ensure that these poisons are down close to zero ppm and that at least they don't spike up above 0.25ppm before you have a chance to be home and change water again. Always use 1.5x to 2x but not more than 2x the condition dose (the base dose being per the instructions on the bottle) and always roughly temperature match for the replacement tap water.

~~waterdrop~~

This tank is only about 10-14 liters, and the filter and media have been used before.
So i could put the guppies in straight away, if i test the water and do water changes frequently?
How frequently would this be? and how much?
thanks f