# Umm.. What is this I found?



## Bebu (Jul 24, 2009)

So, I have a 9.6 gal planted nano with a dozen or so shrimp, 2 otos, and 6 celestial pearl danios. I run a 2213 on there with a 2.3L prefilter.

I was looking at the prefilter this morning and found a few of swimming swimming around...










What are they?

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## Scotmando (Jul 10, 2011)

Baby fish! Congrats, your a Mommy!

Put em(not me!) in a breeder box & feed em. When they get bigger you'll see which fish in your tank had them. It would be really cool if it was the Otos

Good luck!


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Congrats!!! Always great to find babies!!



Scotmando said:


> Baby fish! Congrats, your a Mommy!
> 
> Put me in a breeder box & feed em. When they get bigger you'll see which fish in your tank had them. It would be really cool if it was the Otos
> 
> Good luck!


Not sure you would fit in a breeder box though Scot. Lol


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

You will need to grow infusoria to feed it if you move it, right now there is probably enough in the tank for it to eat.

The main problem with egg layers is the fry are so small that you have to have special food for them.


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## Bebu (Jul 24, 2009)

So wait, what is it then? Otos or CPD's? And how the heck did they get in the teeny tiny slits in my glass intake tube, especially since its usually stuffed with greenery?



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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Does it swim like the cpd's or does it move around like the ottos?

Looks like it's probably from the cpd's


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## Bebu (Jul 24, 2009)

Jackson said:


> Does it swim like the cpd's or does it move around like the ottos?
> 
> Looks like it's probably from the cpd's


Well, now that you ask, it kinda moves like an Otto, but kinda looks like a CPD.. But at this size, how can anyone tell?

BTW - should I be in a hurry to get them out and separate them? I think I have a breeder box somewhere, but at this size, the slits are still too wide, I believe.

I still don't get: a) how they got in there and b) how they survived...

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## Fish on the Mind (Feb 9, 2012)

Placing a bet that it is a celestial pearl danio. All fry would tend move like a otto because they are still young.

and yea better head out and by fry food ( and not the stuff we eat  lol) 

Congrats


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

So it's not swimming its sticking to the surfaces around it? Easy to tell just check where the mouth is. If it's an Otto it will also have a flat belly like the adults.

Never raised any of the two sorry

I've found over a few hundred snails recently in a canister of mine and also found few month old crayfish 
When I had Endlers I'd find them in my HOB's and canisters as well. Lots if stuff for them to eat in those filters. 

They find their way in even with pre filters stuck on the intake especially really small fry


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## Bebu (Jul 24, 2009)

Thanks for replies peeps!... I thought fish was a possibility, but thought, with my luck, probably some ungodly parasite or vermin...

So, last question - low on the cash flow till next week, so will pulverized New Life Spectrum Shrimp micro pellets do for now?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

it is probably eating single cell organisms right now at that size


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Maybe if you crush them into an almost powder. CPD's and Oto babies are tiny and need the tiniest of foods.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

There will be micro-organisms in your pre-filter they can survive off of and if the tank is planted there should be ample microscopic organisms bustling about for them to feed on until they reach a size where you can feed them yourself. I used to raise tiny characin and cyprinid fry on a regular basis, and usually all I gave them until they were able to eat bbs was a lot of java moss. The growing plants sustained them and depending on the species they would be able to take brine shrimp anywhere from 5 - 12 days. 

Fry this small are delicate, but if you are patient and have a trained eye (which you must have if you spotted these to begin with) you can transfer them using a small lid like from a soda bottle or a pill bottle (make sure you rinse it first obviously). I used to move rainbowfish fry that were hiding in the floating plants in one of my tanks. I filled the lid with a bit of water then moved it under the fry and lifted it out. You can then transfer them to another container to rear them in. Just make sure the new home has water with approximately the same temperature and parameters as the tank they came from as it will make acclimatization easier. A filter is not necessary until they get to a size closer to a newborn guppy fry and even then frequent, manual water changes are a better idea. I say manual because at small sizes fry are easily sucked up so doing it yourself with a milk container etc. is a better idea. Once you start to feed them, you can start the h20 changes. 

Hope this helped


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## Bebu (Jul 24, 2009)

Hey Cory, thanks for the first-hand experience. Good to know. 

The main concern for me right now is, even if I wanted to move the fry, I'm afraid I can't. The pic may not have depicted the situation sufficiently, but the problem is that these fry are living in a network of 1 liters worth of Ehiem Mech ceramic tubes. If I even start to move or attempt to remove some media from the top to get to the fry, I'm afraid I'll crush some poor soul down below Due to weight shifting of the media... If that makes sense.... 


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## Fish on the Mind (Feb 9, 2012)

Hmmm looks like you got to move each piece one by one. Starting from the top making sure you gently move them so that you don't shift the media, then when you get to a fry use like a pop bottle lid and scoop him up best you can. or use a straw and suck them up but not to much you dont want to drink that! or I guess a air line tube might work even better if they can fit into it ... that way you can have a long piece so you don't have to get close to sucking up the nice filter residue. 

Just a suggestion,
Good luck


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