When is it a good time to start to use a filter with fry...mines (the first spawning) are 2.5 months old and are almost an inch long..

Also, when should I put them in a tank bigger than 20 gallons?

How many fry are we talking here, Tazz? With an inch long, they should be strong enough to get away from a filter's suction power, especially if you have a sponge of some sort over the intake tube to prevent any accidents.

Edit: Never mind, I read your signature!

60-80 fry should be going into a bigger container or tank right about now, better sooner than later. The more water space they have, the bigger they will develop. Maybe if you can devide them at least between 2 20 gl tanks, or a 50-060 gl tank. If it would be me, I would put them in a 110 gl rubbermaid, but thats just me - not everybody has the space to do that...

thanx for your reply ranchugirl...I was thinking about cleaning out my old 20 gal tank for them and placing them in there....I turned on my filter for the first time in 2.5 months and they seemed to love it, thought there had a hard time keep up with the extra flow of water, but it sure did make the tank cleaner....lol...better than me turkey bastering up the mulm and poop...lol. How rough would cycling be on fry? Most of my fry are 2cm in the first batch....I really want to move teh second batch from the 2.5 gal tank to the ten, but I need to get the big boys and girls out first.

Cycling wouldn't be the best thing that fry have to go through... Isn't there a chance you can get some filter media from an established tank? They are even more sensitive to a hiccup in water conditions than the adults are...

And yes, a filter beats a turkey baster any day. It sure is hard work and time consuming, just like children... At least the fry don't make you spend an arm and a leg on prom dresses!

@ prom dresses, but you are right...I have a couple established filters I can use for the 20 gallon I have. How long would it take for a tank to cycle if I were to use one of them?

Hi Tazz, if they're established filters then it should be an instant cycle! Just make sure that the new water is chlorine free so you don't kill your bugs! Maybe use water from your established tanks to fill/partially fill your new tank, aged water is a lot more gentler on fish than fresh tap water (as long as there's not too much waste in it!, I siphon off water from my big tanks (avoiding stirring up poop on the bottom!) the water in my big tanks is usually pretty clean I only have four medium goldies in an 80gall, so nitrates hardly ever creep above 5ppm.

Wow again, So exciting, BABIES!!!!

wow...thats amazing...I dont think I would be able to have just 4 goldies in an 80 gal tank. Well, I was thinking about taking some water out of the establish tanks and half filling the twenty with the water from a partial water change. I wish I had did that for my 30 gallon tank...bit its half way though cycling now with a sarassa dn two shubunkins in it. It will be my oranda tank once it's cycled