Strange Fry Found

[wilsonefc]

hi all, i need some help with this, last evening, i found one of my female guppies dead, and stuck to my filter, she looked like she had been there a few days to be honest. so today i embarked on a 25% water change mission.

i started by filling a large bowl with the aquarium water, then a moved my fish into that.

my fish= 2 male guppies, 3 female guppies, 1 female orange platty, 1 male blue molly, 1 male red molly, 1 zebra danio, 4 neon tetras, 1 small silver sucking loach.

i thought, while i was at it, i will change the handfull of decorative stones that the wife doesnt like.

as i started to move the stones about, i noticed this little red thing, i couldnt beleive it ,fry, about 5mm long hiding under the rock, i then found another swimming near.

when i took them out and had a good luck, i really do not know what they are, they are orangey red, with black spots on them, but there heads look quite big. i put them in a sepearte bowl, with a bit of gravel, and tbh, theyre behaving like the loach does, sort of burying themselves in the gravel

i only got the loach about 3 weeks ago, so im wondering if it was maybe pregnant? but the loach is silver?
totaly baffled, please help.

gonna try get a pic now.

 

[wilsonefc]

just took some picks of one, how can i upload jpegs, i tried a rar file but it wont let me use it. they are decnt pics, and the fry look really strange, please help.

 

[SchottayB]

Put the picture you have taken on your computer then go to www.imageshack.us, upload the photo there and then you will be given a link to the image. Copy and paste the image link here

 

[fluttermoth]

I prefer Photobucket, myself.

They don't sound like fish fry at all to me; more like bloodworm or tubifex! It's definitely not the loach, as they don't get pregnant; there must be a male and a female present for there to be fertile eggs.

OP; I'm rather concerned about your mantainance regime. Do you normally catch all the fish to do a water change? That's very stressful for the fish and totally unneccessary. A water change of 25% should be happening at least once a week; it shouldn't be a 'mission'. How much do you normally do a week? And how are you cleaning your filter?

It would be nice if we could pin down why your female guppy died.

 

[wilsonefc]

thanks for that mate,

here they are, please help me identify them, although they do seem to be acting a bit like the sucking loach.

http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/34/wirral2011050800050.jpg/

http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/852/wirral2011050800049.jpg/

http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/263/wirral2011050800048.jpg/

http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/wirral2011050800047.jpg/

 

[This Old Spouse]

Looks like a platy or molly fry to me.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd guess molly; certainly fish anyway! It's very odd for them to be trying to burrow into the gravel; I expect they're just frightened.

 

[wilsonefc]

I prefer Photobucket, myself.

They don't sound like fish fry at all to me; more like bloodworm or tubifex! It's definitely not the loach, as they don't get pregnant; there must be a male and a female present for there to be fertile eggs.

OP; I'm rather concerned about your mantainance regime. Do you normally catch all the fish to do a water change? That's very stressful for the fish and totally unneccessary. A water change of 25% should be happening at least once a week; it shouldn't be a 'mission'. How much do you normally do a week? And how are you cleaning your filter?

It would be nice if we could pin down why your female guppy died.

hi, fluttermouth, i have a fluval edge, and to be honest, i have a good friend who has been into this for years, and i just took his advise. about 6 months ago, he set the tank up for me, using the water from his aquarium. i left the tank for 2 weeks then added fish, 2 at a time. i did lose one or 2 to start with, but he tested my water for me about 4 weeks in, and said it was perfect.

with regards to the water changes, i was advised to take out enough water to get my hands in the small hole, about 10%, when i want to clean the inside glass,i use the sponge from inside the filter to do this. then replace it with rainwater.

the reason i take the fish out, is because when i clean the tank, the water goes really murkey for a while, and i thought this may stress the fish more.

i should add, the guppies came from my uncles tank, so i have no idea how old she was, but she had just had fry , in his tank, about 4 or 5 weeks ago.

i do appreciate your advice on this, so please tell me if im doing things wrong.

 

[wilsonefc]

the only orange fish i have is the one full orange platy, the red molly i have is a male, but i have a male blue guppy that has always pestered the life out of the orange platy, could these breed?

as you can see, the two fry have dark spots all over them, they are quite long when you look at them properly, with really big eyes. dead cute.

 

[fluttermoth]

Your friend sounds like an old fashioned fishkeeper; things have changed a lot in the last few years!

Are you using only rainwater in your tank? Tap water with a dechlorinator is probably better. There's nothing wrong with rainwater; I use it myself, but it is very soft and your livebearers would prefer harder water. Very soft water is also prone to pH crashes (where the water suddenly becomes very acidic) which could be causing you problems too.

If the water goes that murky after a water change, there's something wrong. You need to check you're not over feeding and you probably need to give the tank multiple, large water changes to get whatever it is making the water murky out. Or maybe strip it down and start again; bout only the tank not the filter.

You've been through what we call a 'fish-in cycle' to get the good bacteria growing in your filter (until that happens, the fish are swimming in their own wastes, which will be why you lost a couple of fish at the beginning). You don't want to lose the bacteria now (I really hope you aren't washing the filter out in tap water or anything like that...).

You're also very overstocked for an Edge, which I think is about 23 litres (5 gallons)? The maximum stocking for a tank that size would be 7 or 8 fish of a species that grows to an inch or so adult size; so out of all your fish, only the guppies and tetra are suitable (I know the danio doesn't get that large, but they are a very active swimmers and need a 3 foot+ tank, IMO).

Sorry for the long post (and the bad news...)

 

[wilsonefc]

you right, i was overfeeding them to start, i was feeding them every day until my tank started getting really cloudy, then my mate told me i should only be feeding them twice a week, and to get a sucking loach to clean the stones up. since then, it has kept really clean, unless i diturb the gravel, and all the crap comes out, that is why i removed the fish today.

i wash the inside of the glass with the sponge from the filter, and rinse it out in the tank water, again this is what i was advised to do, is this ok?

i also have a big 4ft tank that i am going to set up now, especially since youve told me im overtstocked, when i bought the fluval, from waterworld, the show fluval the had, must have had easy 30 small fish in it. i remember thinking it did look a bit busy like.

anyway, thanks for your advice, and i will do a full water change next week some time now, and wash all of the gravel , before i add clean water.

back on subject, what do you think my fry are then mate?

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd guess mollies (the livebearers can easily be carrying genes for colours that they don't show themselves) but I'm no kind of livebearer expert (I don't even own any anymore; had them in my early days though), so all the fry look pretty much the same to me!

I think your problem is that your not 'vacuuming' the gravel; ie syphoning from the bottom of the tank when you do a water change.

I'm sure you (and the fish!) will enjoy the four foot; paradoxically, larger tanks are actually easier to look after than the very small ones; you have a lot more time to notice problems before they get out of hand. Just remember to move the filter media (sponges or ceramic rings or whatever) over into the filter on the new tank when you move the fish

 

[black molly3]

I agree with fluttermoth, larger tanks are easier to maintain for the simple reason small volumes of water are vulnerable to rapid parameter change. Ph can easily change nitrates and nitrites the list goes on. Even over feeding I'n a larger tank proves less problematic than over feeding I'n a small tank.
I had an edge set up as a marine reef which was a nightmare to clean. Are you using the fluval edge vacuuming kit. If not i would highly suggest it. Also for cleaning the glass i would also recommend an algea magnet. Alot easier for you and alot less stressful for the fish. I done mine every day for 5 mins and never seen a spot of algea. If your keeping the edge the magnet is a must haha i think you can get them for about £3-£4.
Good luck with your new tank anyway and if you keep the edge i would say maybe a male fighter fish I'n there or a group of dario darioes

 

[wilsonefc]

hi black molly, i will definately be keeping the fluval edge too, because its so pretty, i dont think you can put a fighter fish in it though can you? dont they have to have access to the surface? im thinking just a handfull of little neons and harlequins now. see how that goes.

the two fry i have got, im thinking, they could possibly be from the red male molly, and blue female molly. the problem i have with them though, is how have they been eating? they just seem to be burying themselves in the gravel. so how would they know i put some powdered flake in there before? do you think i should remove the gravel so they can see the food?

 

[fluttermoth]

They can smell the food. They've got to a fair size without your help; they'll do fine

They just need more space!

I'd recommend just one species of small shoaler for your Edge. Those sort of fish are happier in larger numbers and it actually looks far more impressive with one kind.