hi, my male gf was chasing my female on tuesday morning(4 days ago), i noticed the eggs that evening, unfortunately this was not planned so i was unsure what to do so i left the eggs in the tank. yesterday(thursday) the eggs were still there but some looked white and others looked like they were open. i decided to remove these eggs and do a water change but first i used the fish net to grab some of the debris that were floating around. i put the net with all the debris in a bucket filled with water and i was just about to dump the water when i realized that there were fry in the bucket swimming, now i am confused because i thought it took 7 days to hatch but these did it in 3 maybe less. second i put them in my 5 gal with 6 inches of water, a heater, some anacharis plant but i have no filter and i have to wait until tomorrow to get one. i do not understand how to siphon the tank without hurting the fry and i do not even know when they did hatch. i really do not want to lose them. also the only aeration i have is a penn-plax battery operated one which is too strong for them.


thanks

karla

Well now, congratulations

I stumbled on my fry by accident, basically put some plants in a tub outdoors so they could re-grow and found one little fry out there swimming around. I found eggs a few days later and added them to the tub - now I have 4 survivors growing bigger each day.

I found the most successful way to keep them healthy was to fill a plastic tub up and put it outside so the water became green. I also have a couple of plants in it to naturally filter the water (plus an airstone). I tried a tank with airstone and filter but had to wrap pantyhose around the filter intake stem to stop them getting sucked up - a couple of the weaker ones still managed to get caught anyhow so that idea went out the window. Andrea (Ranchugirl) told me to the best filters for fry are the Hydro Filters (link to pic):

Hydro Filters

The easiest way to clean the water is using a white plastic tub because then when you fill it with old water, you can check carefully to see if one of your fry is in there and remove him gently back into the tank. They always show up better on a white background.

Hopefully this helps and I can't wait to see some pics of your guys. What kind of fry are they?

thanks for your advice. The mother is an orange oranda and the father is a white fantail. they are very tiny, i guess it is too early to feed them, right? i only have a white bucket about .60 gallons, basically it is not even a gallon, should i put them in there with the plants on my balcony?
just one last question, will they be able to survive without a filter until tomorrow afternoon because i cannot get one until tomorrow

i will try to post pics of the mother and father

thanks

karla

hi, i just need to know how exactly do you siphon a 5 gal tank with 6 inches of water with a really long gravel vacuum? is there something else i can use? i do not have a small tubing or anything to make this easier, unforunately i really need to remove wastes from the fry tank.


thanks


karla

If you have no airline tubing try using a Turkey baster.They sell them at the Dollar Store.

hi, i feel like a doorknob, yes i have airline tubing, i ordered it with my air pump months ago, sorry. Sorry i have a lot of questions but i went to check on them and i am surprised to see them starting to swim and I am determined to give them the best care possible. I can see they are ready to eat but i have no brine shrimp. I do have egg yolk ready for them but i am afraid to give it to them because last night i put some crushed yolk in and they did not go after it. unfortunately i could not siphon the tank because i was afraid of hurting the fry so i left it. Is there a chance they are eating the yolk today? i ask this because i see them picking some stuff up off the bottom and it looks likt they are eating it. i also see them pick some stuff up and spit them out so i know they know what's food and what's not.

Anyway i would like to siphon the tank before adding any more egg yolk, unless they are able to wait for the fish food this afternoon.

what i really need to know is how to siphon with the air line tubing? do you suck up the water with your mouth and then vacuum the tank? I ask this because when i vacuum my goldfish tank, i've never had to suck it up with my mouth to start the siphoning.



thanks


karla

I don't think that I'd let them eat it after it's been laying in the tank for that long.I'd be afraid that it would have gone bad,you know?
When I use tubing to syphon ,I just suck up a little bit and that's all it ususally takes to get the flow going.You only need to do it briefly and normally you won't get any water in your mouth.
Water added back into the tank must match the same temps,and also be added rather slowly because fry are very vulnerable to broken backs,etc. from to much water movement,etc.
I would definately get the Brine shrimp eggs started.Also Look for Hikari's first bites,that's also a good thing to have. For now,you can continue to feed them the egg in very tiny crumbles.I'd give them a little time to eat ans then syphon out the left over. They need to eat at least four to six small meals a day,so I wouldn't let them go too long without food.Good Luck.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE HELP! I decided to wait until after this feeding to siphon the tank. It is hard to get everything out because after a while the tube gets clogged up. But so far I've counted approx. 10 little guys, very active.

The pet store did not have hikari first bites, they said that Nutrafin Basix Fry and Small Tropical Fish Food were the same thing, I hope that's ok until the baby brine shrimp are ready, in about 30-40hrs.

Is it ok is i could not get all the debris out? I got most of it but the tube got clogged up after 45 minutes and i have to run out. I hate not having it perfect but right now the tubing is soaking in hot water to try to remove whatever is stuck inside. They seem fine right now.

Here are the parents

Butterball is the orange oranda-female
Casper is the white fantail-male




I really am grateful for all the help, it is amazing how active they are right now.


karla

oh, Butterball's eyes are both black, i guess the flash on my camera made her eye look white in the photo.

here she is

just a question, is it safe or even beneficial to include Amquel Plus and Novo Aqua Plus to fry tank?


karla

The parents are cuties! Butterball looks like my marmalade who I have a single fry baby from.
As for the tube getting clogged,sometimes if you blow air through it,it's enough to "pop out" what ever was clogging it.
Amquel+ would be fine to use when changing out fry water.

thanks again and hopefully if things turn out well i will try to send pictures.

and congrats on yours, how old is your fry now?

karla

I'm guessing between 3 and 3 1/2 weeks.It was my work week,so I wasn't sure what day it hatched.javascript:emoticon(':unsure:')
smilie

Ok, you can tell I'm new at this. I made a HUGE MISTAKE!
I got a brine shrimp hatchery kit w/the eggs. I followed the instructions and this morning I found lots of the eggs had hatched and made their way up to the fresh water part of the kit, so all i have to do is take the cup filled with brine shrimp and fresh water and put it in the fry tank and that is exactly what i did. After reading the article on hatching brine shrimp for 20 fry or less i realized i put way too much and i do not know what to do. I did siphon the tank so i did get rid of some of them but because they are so small i do not know if there are more and i have to go soon and i won't be back until 3pm. I put the shrimp in at 7am, siphoned around 9:30am and it is now 10:15am and i have to go.

Should i still feed them at 3pm? I will siphon again when i get back but i do not want to overfeed.

I really feel stupid, there are only 13 fry.


karla

oh and Devs, i got to see your little guy, sooo cute, congrats! sorry i did not mention that before, i paniced a bit w/the brine shrimp situation. ok back to work.


karla

hi, my fry will be a week old tomorrow, they seem healthy, eating well. I still have them in a 5 gallon tank with approx.6-8 inches of water, lots of anacharis plants, and a heater. When should i increase the amount of water? I have a sponge filter and air stones but i have not added them in yet because the water is too low and i cannot raise it too high because there is a big crack around the middle of the back of the tank. It is the only tank i have for them.

karla

hi, i am confused about culling my fry. There are still 14 and they will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. They are growing very fast. I've been reading up on raising fry by Sorsha but when it comes to culling the fry i do not know if this is necessary. All 14 are active, and eating well. How are you able to see any deformities? I do not think i'd be able to cull any of them, they seem so healthy and growing well. Only one is smaller than the rest but i think that may have been the one i found in the parents tank two days later struggling to swim. I took him out with a small container and put him in the 5 gal with the others.

thanks

karla

Sometimes the fry will develop bent spines or other deformities which you will be able to see. I never culled my fry either as I just couldn't do it. And if they are healthy and happy I wouldn't cull them. A few of the "weaker" ones may die on their own. Just make sure you are prepared to take care of them as they grow (you'd need lots of gallons for 14 fish, or lots of friends willing to take them )

Good luck and keep us posted!!

thanks, i really hope that i won't have to cull any of them. Oh and I do have potential goldfish takers but i want to be sure that these little guys go to people who will really take care of them, so i am teaching those who are interested how to care for them, and show them great sites such as kokos that they can go to for info. or help.
I will post pics of the fry soon.


karla

hi, i believe it was this past thursday my 2 goldies did the mating dance. On saturday i decided to clean the tank because i already have enough fry to deal with and most of the eggs were white. So i was about to rinse one of my plants when i noticed an egg with a little black dot. I could not just dump it so i removed the egg from the plant and put it in my "betta tank" (no there is no betta in this tank) where i keep some of my anacharis plants. Yesterday just out of curiousity i looked into the tank and discovered that there is now a little fry in the tank. My problem is i do not know when the fry hatched, therefore if he/she is 1 day old or 3 days old. Today all i see is this little one swimming around. Should i put a little hikari first bites in the tank or wait? I do not know how to see the yolk sac. The fry is so tiny. Also can i leave the fry food in the tank until he/she eats it?

The tank is 1/2 a gallon. It is the only other tank i have since his/her brothers and sisters are in my 5 gal and they are 3 weeks old now.


thanks


karla