breeding tank filter

[jonnyb1425]

I have an established 15 gal. that I am going to use to breed apistos in. This tank is moderately planted and at this time has a fluval 2 filter. Are my potential fry going to find their way into the filter intakes? If so, what type of filter is best for that size and type of set up?

 

[BrianNY]

You can buy a sponge pre-filter for just a few $$ @ www.jehmco.com. This will protect any fry from finding their way to doom by filter.

 

[TomK2]

Brian,

I went the cheapo corner filter route, with an airstone driven corner filter. It has Good tank circulation without any strong suction into the filter. One of these days I will put in an order online, and would consider a tiny HOB filter. Can you really raise fry with a HOB filter with a sponge on the intake and the flow turned down? Does it offer any advantage or disadvantage? I enjoy playing with my small QT / breeding tanks almost as much as the main tank, so I could invest in some upgrades.

 

[gheitman]

I highly recommend sponge filters for tanks you want to spawn fish in. I use them on four of my ten gallon tanks and my twenty gallon tank as well. Sponge filters are perfect for breeding tanks because there is no danger of the fry getting sucked into the filter and the apisto fry feed off the surface of the sponge. Sponge filters are also easy to maintain as you just squeeze them out when you do a partial water change.

 

[Liggs17]

I concur with Gene. In breeding and rearing tanks the only way to go is sponge filtration. This provides enough biological filtration for rearing fry, and mechanical filtration shouldn't be necessary because you should be siphoning excess food from the bottom of the tank daily when rearing fry. Besides, it's cheap as hell.

Liggs

 

[TomK2]

Well, the airstone corner filter has been working. But this is with pLaty fry, who are born a bit larger than others? I have had to rescue one fry from the filter, but I think it swam into it rather than got sucked in. So for egg layers, I should switch to a a sponge? or it doesn't matter? The airstone corner filter has some nostalgia for me as well.

On an aside: how much algae do you let accumulate in your fry tank? I let a little bit stick around, and I see the fry pecking at it from time to time. But in a bare tank, a little algae sure looks like a lot.

 

[gheitman]

I use a sponge filter to rear my apisto fry and they actually feed off of nutritious things on the sponge in addition to it providing filtration. As far as algae goes I have an Otocinclus in the tank to help with the algae but other than that I let the algae grow on the back and sides of the aquarium. The tank I raise my apistos in is fully planted. You can see pictures of it in my gallery.