Questions about fry tank

[ccg]

Hello,

I am setting up a tank for my fry, and I am trying to spend as little money as possible, as I am trying to run and maintain 4 tanks right now.

I have a 15 gallon tank that will be used for my baby fry. Will the fry beable to survive, grow, and live healthy in this tank for a few weeks untill they are big enough to go in with the adults?:

-15 Gallon Tank /w hood and lights
-50 watt heater (has no problem keeping it spot on 80)
-sponge filter
-air pump/stone
-feeding ring

Basically, what I am concerd about is using a sponge filter, as I have never owned one before, and this will be my first time using one. I know better filteration would be better, but I am trying to keep the cost to a minimum. What do you think?

Once the fry are big enough they will be moved to a 55 gallon tank.

 

[Jezah]

I would REALLY use a smaller tank for the fry at first. The bigger the tank the harder it is for the fry to reach food without becoming too tired. I have mine in a 2 1/2 gallon for their first few weeks then more them to a 10g grow out for the rest. That seems to work the best. Good luck.

 

[Whiskerz]

I've had fry in a 10gal from the day they were born till I gave them away, They were all healthy and did great in it. So I don't see any problems with you using your 15 gal.

As for the sponge filter....I can't help ya there as I've never used one I used a HOB (Hang On Back) filter and put some sort of netting on the bottom so the fry wouldn't get sucked in.

 

[Polardbear]

I've used both 10 and 15 gallon tanks for swordtail fry. A few fry have even grown up in my 55 gallon. They've never had a problem finding or getting to food. If you were concerned about that aspect you could always lower the water level. I've used sponge filters, hob filters, undergravel filter with power head and a DIY power head sponge filter. Personally my preference is the hob filter with a piece of sponge wrapped around the intake strainer. It will slow down the flow of the filter and gets dirty real fast (have to rinse it daily) but it seems to do the best job without hurting any fry. The sponge filter would be my second choice but only if it is elevated off the bottom of the tank so the fry can't get trapped underneath it. If it sits directly on the bottom the fry can get trapped and die. Whatever you choose to use you are still going to need to do frequent water changes to remove uneaten food or you will end up with ammonia and nitrite spikes. You can get a cheap but effective hob Aqua Tech 5-15 filter at Walmart for about $11.00, they are actually made by Marineland and are quite adequate for a fry tank. The sponge filters at my LFS run $12.00 - $16.00. With either choice, you'll want to run the filter in/on a cycled tank for a few days to pick up some of the beneficial bacteria.

 

[ccg]

Thanks for the input guys.

Heading to Big Al's today to finish getting everything I need and stock up on a few things. Maybe what I will do is put my fry in a net for the first few days. This is my first batch of fry and they have been in the net for 3days now and have grown more then twice the size since they were born. So a few days in the net and frequent feedings and water changes will hopefully make them strong enough to find food in the 15 gal. I will make sure I use a feeding ring so they won't have to search as hard.

Thanks again everyone.