One of my Platy birthed before I got a chance to clean the brood box. Anyone have experience cleaning the brood box while fry are in them still? I don't move the fry until they are roughly a week. It's kinda gross with momma poop. Also have a gold dust due any day, which could also be an issue. Bad timing!
Cleaning Brood Box
- Thread starter mjs500doo
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henningc
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I'm not sure what type of brood box you're using, is it hard plastic or net? It I were you, I would do the following. Get a 5gal bucket, small air pump, small sponge filter, heater and plastic pasta colander Cycle the bucket with the sponge filter and air. When your fish are getting ready to drop, put the colander in the bucket so it sits half full of water. Put you females in and when they birth, the fry fall through to the bucket. Raise them for two weeks in the bucket and you're ready to start over. You can actually raise multiple batches of fry at one time.
I raise fry in a fry tank (after 5 days old), then move them when 1-1inch long into a teenager tank (10 gallon). We use the brooder boxes once momma starts pooping excessively, right before squaring off. No need for a divider in the box. Each female gets her own. I usually don't birth more than 4 at a time. I actually like the hard plastic ones. They "stick" to the sides of the tank, and "oopsie" fry from first time momma can hide between the glass and boxes, easy to save!
