Settin up a fry tank

[juliethegr8t]

Hi, I have some questions! I've decided my fry can't live forever in a net, so mom relented and let me invest in another (small.. *sigh*) tank. Hey though, it's still a tank!

I got a 2.5 Mini Bow Little Lagoon starter kit. It came with gravel, 2 plants, a net, all that blah blah, and a Whisper Mini filter. Anyways, I've since set it up with a heater I bought (25 watts, says good for up to 5 gallons so it should work), and filled it with water.

I realize I need to cycle, so what I've put in so far is about a gallon of water from my 10 gallon, a piece of filter media from my other 2.5, and a cup full of crap from the gravel. Also added some Cycle which may or may not do some good, but even if it's just adding ammonia I figure that's good cuz then my bacteria can start spreading.

Neeeeeways, to get to the questions - I really want to move my fry into it asap. Their net is just nasty and I'd love to give some more space to my other fishies. They're still extremely tiny - maybe ___ long at the biggest give or take a lil bit for tails. I figure adding 13 or so fry into that isn't gonna raise ammonia levels very fast. Do you think it would be safe or near so since I've tried to seed the bacteria? Or how long should I wait? Any suggestions with that are appreciated!! Or any ideas/experiences with your own fry tanks!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi juliethegr8t

If you have test kits, use them to be on the safe side.

However, I would go ahead and move the fry if you think they are large enough that they will not be sucked into the filter intake tube. (not sure if you have one with a whisper, but I always worry about that) If you have one, you can reduce the size of the holes by wrapping a piece of nylon net - from the fabric store - around it.

Once you have a large tank established you can always just "clone" a smaller tank off it, like you have done, and use it immediately. Had you asked first, I would have said to take all of the gravel and most of the water from the larger tank, but with tiny fry I don't think you have to worry. If you have a plant or decoration in the bigger tank you can put that in the small one, too, because it will be coated with bacteria. You really didn't need the Cycle.

The breeder net is full of bacteria, too, and if you have the room, you could move the whole thing into the new tank for a day or two to take advantage of it before releasing the fry.

 

[Colisa lalia]

In such a small tank don't forget to change about 100 percent of the water everyday. Not all at once and make sure the water level stays the same, but for fast fry growth nothing works like water changes.

 

[jumpman]

Hey Colisa,

I am thinking you meant 10%?? )

 

[jumpman]

Ok,

so 100% over a day gradually doesn't sound crazy, but do you really need to do that much if you have good filtration??

 

[Inchworm]

No, don't even think about doing such extensive water changes. The ideal situation is to have the bacteria doing all the work. Only do small water changes. Large ones (unless you have a big fish load--and with fry you will not) will wash the bacteria out faster than they can reproduce.

 

[KnuckleHead]

Clean water is essential to healthy fry growth. While 100 percent water changes may sound good, unfortunatly its not. Fry are extremely delicate and the added stress of repeated water changes, required for 100% changes, will have the opposite effect of what you want. I would recommend no more then 15% a day with water aged for 24 hours. If you could get a small sponge filter that would be best but a mini whipser will work, just place the end of a sterile piece of pantyhose over it and you should be fine.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Awesome advice everyone, thanks so much. I plan on moving everybody tonight or tomorrow. I just found another 20 fry in my bucket so they'll be in the net with the older fry free in the new tank. I actually already put pantyhose over the intake in my filter - I took one look at the holes and went ope, I'm gonna lose some lil buggers up there if I'm not careful! I will do some small water changes a few times a week - they've been fine in the big tank with only weekly changes, but now that they are in a smaller area I'll take advantage of that. Thanks again everyone!!