# Fry Inquiries



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Ok, so i have about six or seven dwarf neon rainbow fry. Is there a possible way to transport them out of the tank they are in to a smaller container where i can regulate water changes daily and feed them easier?


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Just take some tank water and filter media and put it in a smaller tank. Catch the rainbow fry and put them in. With little fry I would suggest not using a net, taking them out of the water, etc. Try to coax them into a bag and just take the bag to the new tank. That way they're never out of water and less stress is put on them.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

mistersprinkles said:


> Just take some tank water and filter media and put it in a smaller tank. Catch the rainbow fry and put them in. With little fry I would suggest not using a net, taking them out of the water, etc. Try to coax them into a bag and just take the bag to the new tank. That way they're never out of water and less stress is put on them.


do i need filter media? i was planning on having a small container until they start to grow with daily water changes. I'll bring in some duckweed from the tank to polish water and harbor some infusoria. Seven small fry in a ten gallon is just too hard to see and im afraid of sucking them up during water changes. I'd rather put them in a small container in my heated room and do water changes with airline tube.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Kimchi24 said:


> do i need filter media? i was planning on having a small container until they start to grow with daily water changes. I'll bring in some duckweed from the tank to polish water and harbor some infusoria. Seven small fry in a ten gallon is just too hard to see and im afraid of sucking them up during water changes. I'd rather put them in a small container in my heated room and do water changes with airline tube.


You can't put fry in a tiny little container. The water quality will be too hard to control. I say at least a 2.5Gal tank. To avoid sucking them up, just put a sponge over the syphon hose when you do water changes. That'll keep the fry out.

For fry, the ideal filter is a sponge filter driven by an airline, however, if this sponge filter is not adequately seeded with beneficial bacteria, the fry will die.
Even if you are doing water changes daily, there will still be a buildup of ammonia. Keeping fry unfiltered will not work.

You MUST have a filter.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

gahh, maybe ill just keep them in the 10 gallon then. They have 2 cycled sponge filters anywho


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Kimchi24 said:


> gahh, maybe ill just keep them in the 10 gallon then. They have 2 cycled sponge filters anywho


Why not block off a quarter of the 10 gal (with one of those 'net type' dividers) and keep them in there until they're bigger so you can keep an eye on them?


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

i just dont want to accidentally siphon them up or over feed.


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

Fry of rainbow fish are incredibly small and require tiny foods in the beginning. I believe infusosoria is common for early food.


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## Mykuhl (Apr 8, 2013)

When you say you have 2 cycled sponge filters....is that in the current 10 gallon that you mentioned? If so, you can simply take out one of those sponge filters and place it in a smaller tank for the new fry. You will be fine with regards to biofiltration even if you take out one of the sponge filters, provided the tank is not overly stocked and you replace it with a new one. The bacteria will quickly populate the new filter. I don't think you should go with anything smaller than a 5 gallon for the fry. If you just have the tank bare bottom with just the sponge filter...you will be able to keep the tank nice and clean for the growing fry and you will be able to keep a close eye on them so you don't accidentally suck any of them up.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

keep them in the established 10 gallon, there is more infusoria already there for them to eat and put a sponge over the tube when siphoning or even just use air line tubing with an air stone at the end to siphon, its slower but works.


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## SwimmyD (Feb 9, 2013)

Hi Kimchi,
Glad to hear that despite the recent nightmare, you actually got some rainbow fry out of this. I completely understand your dilemma of keeping such tiny fry in a big 10g tank. It IS harder to feed just a few fry in a big tank. It is harder for them to find food because you can't add too much when the tank is large, as you risk over-feeding and polluting. A small container allows them to find the food quickly. 

I would say that your idea of a small container (like Tupperware boxes) would work- if you had plants such as hornwort and some small ramshorn snails on the bottom. This is how killifish breeders raise a few fish at a time, because killies don't do giant spawns. It works very well, and you can keep a close eye on them. You can attach a small piece of airline tubing to a big plastic syringe and vacuum the bottom daily, and do your regular water changes with little risk of sucking them up. Water quality (ph/hardness) is not an issue if you keep your stash of aged tap water nearby. As the fry grow- you move them to bigger and bigger boxes until finally the 5 or 10g tank. However, the problem lies with the fact that rainbows need warm water to grow. You need to keep them at least 78 to 80 degrees or warmer if you want them grow fast. The lower the temperature, the slower they grow, and vice versa (up to 82 degrees max). Trust me on this one. First hand experience. And it's pretty hard to put a heater in a Tupperware.

The other idea is hanging a breeder box on the side of your 10g. That way you have the buffer of the 10g tank water, have the heater in the tank, and keep your fry safe from vacuuming and water changes. They can easily get food in the breeder box, and you can still throw some moss and a ramshorn in with them to keep the bottom clean. I saw the pictures, so they are already a couple weeks old. (You would not be able to take pictures of them if they were only a few days old since they are close to microscopic sized for the first week). So they have been eating the infusoria in your moss. However, I would get some very small porous sponge to block the overflow areas and output flow on the breeder box. Just to prevent them from slipping out. 

The other thing is food....Vinegar eels are very good for rainbow fry - small sized (smaller than microworms, banana worms, and Walter worms). Vinegar eels live several days in water- and swim through the water column. So you can slightly over feed and still be okay since they live a long time. The other worms don't seem to live more than a day, and sink straight to the bottom. 

One question for you- did you keep that ball of flame moss? Because surely your rainbows were spawning on that, and because they spawn a little every day- you may still have eggs that will hatch. Rainbow fry usually hatch at a staggered rate.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

the ball of moss is still there. there was a spawning mop too but i took it out considering my breeder male and other female died


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## SwimmyD (Feb 9, 2013)

Good thing you kept it hey? That's what's been feeding your fry! Don't throw it out.......you might see some more!


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

SwimmyD said:


> Good thing you kept it hey? That's what's been feeding your fry! Don't throw it out.......you might see some more!


i was scared it was harboring camallanus worms so it went out. I did start feeding them egg yolk though to supplement incase.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

One way to siphon water out without risking sucking up fry is to use an airline, but stick the end of it inside a sponge filter. That way, all the water you remove is sucked through the sponge first, and no fry will be harmed at all. I used this method to do WCs when I was trying to raise larval shrimp zoeys. Worked perfectly.. slow, but no damage done at all to any of the shrimp, which were a lot tinier at that stage than your fry are now.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

The female is still in there and she leaves some poop. It's a bare bottom tank and I want to siphon it out. I guess the fry don't really go near the bottom but I'll just have to make sure


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