Can someone give me the low down on the care of fry. I have no idea what to do.

From reading old posts I found a few things I need to do. I got a sponge filter last night. I am not sure how it works, but will just assume it is doing what it is suppose to. I had to get the water a little more than 6 inches for it to be under water....hope that is ok. I bought frozen brine shrimp and bloodworm eggs and feed them 3 times a day. I have it bare bottom. It sits in front of a window so I don't have a light. Anything else? The lady at the fish store told me they didn't need a heater, which I don't see how I could use anyway - the water isn't deep enough....

The problem with putting in a new sponge is that it is really no use for the first few weeks, since it is uncycled. Make sure the air pump you connect it to isn't going too fast, a bubble or two a second is a good speed. I personally use a heater, but it doesn't matter as long as the temperature in your house is always pretty warm. In the first week or so I feed liquid foods, (liquid fry food for egglayers). Then once they got bigger, I fed them some egg yolk and moved to hikari first bites.

I fed them daily about 3-5 times a day (in little portions so there is no leftover food floating around) . At week 3-4 I upgraded them to fish flakes (crushed, but not too finely), while changing the water 2-3 times a week the whole way.

I'm at this point, so I'm not sure. I would also cull the fry at week 2-3 that are deformed or cannot swim (crawls on the ground), as they will not survive anyways.

Hope that helps

Thanks. I had several die already, they were sickly from the time I moved them in - shock maybe....they looked dead, but when I went to remove them they were still alive so I left them until they were for sure dead. None of them look deformed. Can you tell me how old you think they are from the pictures?

Oh, and I am not sure on the cycled part - the water came from the pond and I added more from day to day. I will test it tonight to see what is water is like.

I'm guessing about a week and a half. Are those the fry from the pond?

yeah it could be 1.5 weeks old. I think it looks like 1-2 weeks (hard to tell without reference objects around it). But it looks all transparent - so definitely less than 3 weeks, thats when their skin gets a silver color (at least they did for mine).

From picture fry2.jpg looks like about 2 weeks old just as pointed out by mkinga and noahnjm.

The first 8 weeks of the fry's health will determine how well the fish will grow as an adult. Nothing is more important during this first 8 week than water quality. Second is a high protien diet that is essential to their growth. Pinned at the top of this forum contain an excellent source of information about fry food.

Don't worry about cycling the tank for now. That takes time to establish. Unless you already have the sponge filter established with nitrifying bacteria, that task will take your attention away from caring for the fry.

So, instead of depending on nitrifying bacteria to neutralize the ammonia and nitrates, use a chemical water treatment available at the LPS instead. Amquel Plus or Prime work well for this purpose. They help detoxify any ammonia and nitrate created by the fish, their waste and uneaten food. This will give you time to let the biological filter to complete the cycle. If you don't already know the mechanics of cycling a tank, Koko has a section specifically on the subject.

It is not a good idea placing the tank near a window for now. That will probably cause too much temperature fluctuation. Instead, place the tank in an area where there is little change in temperature. Sudden temperature change can kill young fry more than anything else. A submersible heater like the Ebo-Jager models (you can lay it horizontal at the bottom) are good for keeping temperature at a steady 75F. Also, you needn't worry about the height of the water now. After a week the fry's swim bladder should be well developed to handle deeper water.

Change water by siphoning out as much solid debris as possible into a suitable size bucket. Be careful not to suck up any fry. Place a finger at the other end of the tube just in case. Make a note of how much water is taken out and fill the bucket with the new water. Make sure the new water temperature and pH is the same. Siphon the new water into the tank through a small tubing. This will prevent any sudden shock to the fry. You can go about doing other things without worry about over filling.

If you must remove the fry to clean the tank, try not to handle them too much. No nets. Instead use a small measuring cup. Transfer some clear water from the tank to a clean plastic bucket. Siphon out water. When the water level is low enough, corral the fry into the measuring cup and transfer them into the plastic bucket. Clean the tank, place the fry back in, siphon in the new water slowly through a small tubing. Checking beforehand, the temperature and pH is the same.

Sounds like a lot of work but once you get a hang of it, it's a breeze.

Thanks so much for your advice. So far I have 10 alive. I caught them with a little net out of the pond - oops didn't know that was a bad thing to do. I did use a measureing cup to move them from the container I had them in to the 10 gallon tank. Some are bigger than the others and some are clear, while others are showing some orange. I'll keep everyone posted.

Oh the largest on is about 1/2 an inch. The smallest which I didn't see this morning is microscopic.

Oh, maybe your common's breed since your seeing some orange on them