Ok, so for the past 2 weeks or so, my frys that have hatched all are dying.

I'm not sure what I can do. Can someone advise me on how to keeping them alive. They seem to die after the first few hours or night.

Here's some info on my tank:

Parent Tank:10 gallon (2 common goldfish)
Fry Tank: 2.5 gallon
Average Tank Temp: 76-82 degrees in both tanks (Can't help this, I'm not sure why the water is so warm)

Average of 50-75 eggs (assumption) are being laid on the decoration. After the 2nd day, I collect only the fertilized eggs and transplant them to the Fry Tank. They seem to be hatching on the 3rd day. They will swim around for a while (few hours) and then just lie there and eventually die.

I feel bad, this is my 5th batch in a couple of weeks. Parents are laying eggs every 3rd day. Seems like the hatching and egg laying happen on the same day. I'm not keeping the water too high in the fry tank, maybe 1.0-1.5 inches, so they can swim up for air. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong. Is there something special I need to do to the tank? Water treatments, or lower the water temp?

What are the parameters of the water - besides temp? At the temp you have, the fry will hatch early - but 3 days is not too early.

There are lots of possibilities:

1. The water is bad - ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, lack of buffer causing pH bounce. REmember - eggs hatching create a huge amount of ammonia in the water - and you have them in 2.5 gallon tank only filled to a few inches - that is only a few cups of water. It is possible that the water is high in ammonia!

2. It is very possible that there is a parasite that is in the tank - one that your adults can still live with - and possibly throw off, for they are strong and large. The fry, on the other hand, do not stand a chance.

3. It is very possible that there is a disease in the tank - also one that the adults are somewhat immune to, but the fry cannot handle it.

4. The fry may just not be viable. Some parents are simply not compatible. This is unlikely, though, for you have commons and even with the very fancies, you should get SOME that are ok....

Test your water - make sure that there is NO ammonia in the fry tank. Do you have adequate oxygen for those fry? In just an inch or two of water, that may be a problem - particularly if the water is warmer like it is.... Change out the water so that you get zero ammonia.

I would move the adults into a larger home - 30 gallons + for commons - and use the 10 gallon tank for the fry. Fill it about 5-6 inches deep with water - make sure that you use a water treatment to dechlorinate - and set a sponge filter going, driven by an air stone. The air exchange will be good for the fry - and the sponge filter can slowly seed as the fish produce waste. After they are hatched, check your ammonia and change out what water you need to, in order to keep the ammonia at zero.

Well, I here's what I've done in most instances:

--Once I spot eggs in the parent tank, I prepared the Fry tank by adding new tap water (2-5 inches) and adding AquaSafe to make it safe. I make a gallon of water ahead of time. I keep it bare bottom, so I see any waste if they make any. I honestly haven't put any air stones or sponge filter in it, because I thought the fish would be sensitive to the motion of the water, since the tank is small. Now, as for the 1st batch that did survived 2 nights, I checked the water with one of those 5 in 1 test strips (pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness and Alkalinity) by Jungle every 4 hours, everything seems in normal range according to the strip chart provided. I did a water change of 10%. I even put liquid fry food on day 3, They survived 3 days and then died. Only 3 hatched the 1st time.

-As for the other batches, I did the same water process, but I put the water level down little by little because I thought they were dying because the water level was too high and they couldn't breath (Maybe I was wrong!).

-This last batch from past Saturday, I counted about 45 fry that hatched, they were moving a little, but not totally active. They hatched around 10pm. I had just moved the eggs earlier in the day. I figured they would b/c they were tired. I came down the next day, and they seem to have melted away. I was so upset! I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong!

Do you think I need to buy ammonia strips, I don't have those? Also, can this be because of a new tank? The first batch of fry were in a different tank, I wonder if that made a difference.


Thanks for any help you can give me, I'd like like to come out with at least one fry out of all this work.

Hi Bubbles.

that is frustrating that you are losing fry. It happened to me the first time too. I agree with daryl that the most likely cause is the water. Fry are so incredibly delicate. Totally unable to stand traces of ammonia or any adverse water condition that might not show on a test strip. And those first few days and weeks are really key to their future health.

What I would suggest first is that you have a larger container for the fry. It is safer then because any toxins are not deadly so fast in a larger space and water parameters are so much easier to control. Then I suggest you seed the container/tank with some nitrifying bacteria from the main tank. Some gravel, filter media wrapped in pantyhose and hung in there, a plant, whatever you have that can be moved would work.

Here's a link to what I did:
Finding eggs-the first 2 weeks

Good luck. It's hard work raising fry but really rewarding too .