Safe Swordtail Fry

[tetraman]

I have only one fake plant in my 30 gallon tank. With the fish mentioned in my signature, do you think they would be eaten?

 

[willtang3000]

most likely as swordtails eat there fry but corys and plecs dont from my experience.If your not willing to make time and setup a tank for them theres no point as they breed quite often Hope this helps

 

[tetraman]

How about the neon tetras? There still only about an inch long.

 

[donna123]

hi,
my neons wont bother the fry i have, they may chase them but thats it.

 

[tetraman]

I now have some new fish you will see below, but I also have a breeding net now. Thanks for the help. When would it be safe to let them out into the main tank? I am going to have to get rid of them quickly since my tank is already stuffed to the gills.

 

[donna123]

hi,
to be on the safe side, ypu would have to wait until the fry are at least half the size of a neon, that could take 3-4 weeks, maybe more. donna

 

[Annastasia]

The rule of thumb is when they are too big to fit in the biggest fish's mouth. Waiting a bit after that can also be a good idea, if you have fish who will chase them. However, it's not advised to keep them in the breeder net for long, due to the risk of stunting.

Also, just scoop them into the net when they're born. Putting a Swordtail in a breeder net is a bad idea, as they are quite large and it will stress them out.

Aaaand, you may want to get some more plants and decorations for your other fish, to make them feel safe. One plant isn't much.

Good luck!

 

[tetraman]

Now I have 1 plant along with a rock and a piece of driftwood from my backyard. I'm a kid, so I ain't buyin' my own decorations. The fry were born last night and I have about 40. When should I start feeding them? How much should I feed?

 

[vidiots]

Now I have 1 plant along with a rock and a piece of driftwood from my backyard. I'm a kid, so I ain't buyin' my own decorations. The fry were born last night and I have about 40. When should I start feeding them? How much should I feed?

The fry usually don't eat much if anything their first day, but they will definately eat their second day. Their bellies are very small at first so they can't eat much. It takes a little practice to gage exactly how much to feed them. Also newborns are not very good at finding the food that doesn't practically fall into their mouth. They will learn to search for it within a few days. When feeding newborn fry live baby brine shrimp, I like to rinse the brine shrimp into a glass of freshwater, then use a small pipette or medicine dropper to suck up a small amount of brine shrimp and drip it into the tank near the fry and watch them eat. I continue slowly adding drops of brine shrimp until the bellies of the fry are nice and plump and they start to slack off eating. Then I just dump all the leftover brine shrimp into my tank with the big fish who enjoy the snack.

You can also crush up some flake food into a powder, and store it in like an old test tube, then just give a tiny sprinkle to the fry and watch to see how much they eat. If they eat it all give them another sprinkle. If they don't eat it all try to remove the excess with fine net like a brine shrimp net. It's always better to start small and work up, than to start big and have to clean up a mess.

Frequent water changes are very important to a fry tank, because most people want them to grow fast, so they feed them heavily, and often end up over doing it and having uneaten food in the fry tank rotting which is bad for the health of the fry. Contrary to popular myth, the fry will not eat until they explode, they will stop when they are stuffed, and just like us after a big thanksgiving dinner, they just wanna relax and let things digest.

 

[tetraman]

Thanks. I bought some fry food and most of them nibbled at it yesterday. I have had a few casualties from them getting stuck under the supports in the breeding net.

 

[vidiots]

Thanks. I bought some fry food and most of them nibbled at it yesterday. I have had a few casualties from them getting stuck under the supports in the breeding net.

I've had problems with stuff like that, or having them get sucked into a filter intake. Lately I prefer to keep my newborn fry in a bare cheap plastic 2.5 gal tank, for the 1st month or so until they are large enough to safely be in a bigger tank with larger fish. Doesn't have to be an official tank, just any container that you can put a cheap sponge filter into, but I would prefer a transparent container so you can see into it. As with any tank larger is generally better, the reason I like the 2.5g size is because, I can pick it up and move it to the sink for cleaning & water changes, and its small enough to be kept just about anywhere. I find the bare tank easier to clean, and there isn't anyplace the fry can get themselves trapped.

 

[tetraman]

They're doing fine and eating well. Thanks!