And would you like Fries with that?

[HyperFerret]

Four months ago, my beloved fishy passed away. Since then, my 10 gallon tank has been vacant. (She was the only fish kept in that tank.) I just now decided to set it up again. Last Friday, 10/26/07, I bought 2 guppies. Then last Saturday, I bought 3 long fin guppies and 3 glofishes. (Which are the same things as Danios, I think.) Well, early yesterday morning I was admiring my fishies when I saw two tiny dots darting around! I've got two baby fishes! So I got 3 fish for the price of one! I just can't tell whom they are the fry of ??? They had to already be in the tank at the pet store, though, I can't believe I didn't notice them right away. None of the fish I brought home had big bellies. That and I highly doubt a fish would birth only 2 fry. ....Well, unless the others have already been eaten. ....I really don't think they were birthed here in my tank.

Anywho, I've never had any fry before. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy one of those fry nets thingys. There were two fry but I can only find one now. But I'm still going to get the net anyways. I can't even see it/them till they swim around. They are not big at all. From head to tip of the tail, they are roughly, 3/16th's (maybe 4/16th's) of an inch long. And quick little buggers! **I haven't tried to touch them or anything.**

So, now my questions:

* When I get that mesh net, how On Earth am I to catch these tiny tiny tiny creatures???! How do I catch them without harming them?

* What do I feed them? I feed my fish the little crisps. Can I just crumble those into the tiniest of pieces?

* Should I put some plants in the fry mesh? Can/should I use real plants or are artificial plants okay?

* Now, that the fry are in there. I imagine the water needs to be super clean for their little bodies. How often should I do a water change? What percentage should I change? (My next question was going to be How do I make sure I don't accidentally suck up the fry?", but tomorrow I'll have that net. Lol)

* What else do I need to know?

I'm not really expecting them to survive. I've never had fry before. Plus, I thought my water was okay, however, today when I got home, one of my guppies (of the 1st two I bought) was dead. So tomorrow I'm taking a water sample to the pet store again. Grrr. I think one fry is already gone and I won't be able to get the net till tomorrow after 3pm. As of right now, they are hiding in the gravel and in the one and only artificial plant I have. If they do survive, I'm actually quite anxious to see what kind they are!! Alrighty, well I think I've rambled on about two little fry for long enough now. Hee-hee.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

[Zagz]

Congrats! For the fry feed crushed flakes or crisps, the fry should be fine in that tank with those fish. Keep an eye on the parameters as the tank wasn't cycled beforehand. By far the biggest danger to the fry is an ammonia or nitrite spike.
Water changes should be probably 25% every 3 days, but it will depend on your parameters if you need to do more or not.
If you want to catch the fry and put them in a mesh fry tank you can. With water changes you can either use airline tubing or a turkey baster. Once you get used to fry you get good at water changes without sucking fry up.