Going on vacation... tank has fry

[erica]

Well, if anyone remembers me... I wrote a few weeks ago regarding my ten gallon planted freshwater tank stocked with four young tiger barbs and two young kribs. Well, my two kribs now have 20 fry!!! Of course, they succeeded in their FIRST attempt in my ten gallon tank!!! I don't know what to do, although I'm working on getting a new 55 gallon. Anyways, I'm going on vacation for one week over Thanksgiving, and don't know what to do with my fish and fry. I would appreciate any suggestions on what I can do about lighting if I don't have a timer, feeding, cleaning etc. I usually do a 10-20% water change every other day! Help!

[jamesrm]

I have not experianced the joys of Fry yet, but here are a few ideas that might help you.

As far as a timer, you can get one of these pretty cheaply from a local hardware store. I would think you would pay less than 5 dollars, and it is something you really need.

As far as the Fry, if your worried about them being snacks, you could set up a refuge in your tank to keep them in. However, if they are doing fine right now in your tank, I am not sure how much that is needed.

Feeding is a more tricky matter. I do know that there are timed feeders on the market, I do not have any experiance with them. You might want to hire a friend or neighbor to feed them for you. I have left my tank before for a week vacation with no problems, as fish can live a week just fine without food, I just am not sure about the Fry factoring into that.

Cleaning - If your tank is mature and not cycling, I would do a 50% water change before you left and not worry about it

Have fun!

[erica]

Thanks, I was worried that a week might be too long for them to go without food since normally I feed them very well ( : I didn't realize a light timer could be so inexpensive, I'll definitely buy one before I leave! I have had REALLY bad luck with having friends/family take care of my fish while I'm gone... so I WON'T be doing that again!!! Is there anything other than a big water change that I should do before I go??? Put in a new clean filter or something??? Thanks!

[bs6749]

Maybe look into one of those week long feeder blocks to keep food in the tank. Not for the adults, but for the fry. The parents may crush up some food for the fry if there is none small enough for them to eat. Maybe feed extra well before you go and overfeed a little so that food is available for a day after. I would try the week long feeder block(s) though.

[jamesrm]

I am not sure if it would matter, but I would not want to dump an excessive amount of food in the tank before you go, it could lead to an ammonia spike, however unlikely that would be.

I would also clean your filter about a week or 2 before you leave (nowish) just so it has time to settle back in before your trip.

I had forgotten about the food blocks, that is a good idea.

[Mosaic]

At about the 3 week point, if you don't remove the fry, the parents will start eating them. It sounds like you'll be cutting it really close to that time period. In a small tank, you may have even less time.
I wouldn't worry too much about the barbs getting the babies. The parents are good protectors, especially as the babies start swimming around more. Before you go, watch them to make sure they don't harass the barbs too much.

Honestly, I dont even feed my fry when they're still with the parents. I have a well established tank and feed it well. The babies pick at the driftwood and glass, and eat leftovers and inusoria and who knows what. I have no problems with growth or loss. Once I have to move them to their own tank I feed bbs. But I've left the main tank for 5 days with fry and didn't worry a bit. I don't think your tank has been established for too long though, if I remember.
They do have automatic feeders. I'd prefer that to the food blocks. You could even crush up some flakes or add powered fry food to ensure the babies get theirs.

[Sicklid]

I was going to ask how long your tank has been established, because like Mosaic, I have always had my fry do fine on the organisms that lived on my sponge filter, driftwood, and such... They always did pretty good, and I never gave them special "fry" foods.

I also use an automatic feeder, set to dump in a little flake food for the adults like every twelve hours, just a pinch.

I don't recommend the dissolving blocks they have little or no nutrients and mostly just foul the water.

[erica]

I think my tank is very well established. It's been up and running for about 1 1/2 years now. Well, another question now... the female krib is really starting to beat up on the male now, should I take him out and give him to my lfs before she offs him??? I really wanted to have these two in my 55 gallon (eventually) but I'm not sure if he'll make it that long! She's been biting his tail it looks like, and he's not very colorful anymore. ) :

[Mosaic]

Are you sure it's not the barbs beating up on him? I think that's more likely. Even if the female is doing it, I seriously doubt she would hurt him badly enough to kill him.
If you have to, you can always set up another 10g as a QT tank to hold the male for a while.