How long could fry live without a filter on? Only have a bubbler for oxygen. Because the two waterfalls on my tank throw them down so much it sucks. It's only a 5 gallon. There's about 40 fry in there now. I'm sure some will die I just hope I can raise some.
How long fry live without filter?
- Thread starter Rolance
- Start date
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Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
]How long could fry live without a filter on? Only for as long as the water can stay clean without one. I'd suggest you invest in an air operated sponge filter. They will do much better with one.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
This is an article on sponge filter you should read:
Sponge Filtration; How Aquarium & Pond Bio Sponge Filters Work, Function
They are the best filter to have when raising fish fry. I've used thousands of them.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
I suggested that article so you could get the background and basics of what a sponge filter is and does. I am not associated with that company nor do I endorse or not endorse their brand.
Having said that, I'd go to Ebay.com and do a search for "Sponge Filters" and you should see a variety of filters that are rated for tanks as small as 5 gals and up at very reasonable prices.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
I wouldn't use the corner filter style as the fry can swim into the box so I would choose the other one. As for pricing, there are other types that were cheaper than these that you posted. Consdidering that this is not going to be the long term filter for your fish, I'd go with the one(s) you can afford for now and upgrading, only if necessary, as you go along. (You will know if you need to upgrade by watching the ammonia level in the tank. If it goes up even with an established filter, you need to upgrade the filter.) In the future, your fry will not do very well in a small 5 gal tank long term and you should either be spawning the fish in a larger tank or moving them out of that 5 gal soon after they have started eating baby brine shrimp or powdered foods. My prefererence is to spawn these fish in a 10 gal tank then move the fry , once they are eating food they can catch, into larger grow out tanks or pools. Remember, there can be a couple hundred fry from a good breeder so either of these tanks will be too small for growing out the fish.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
When I breed fish, the spawning tank is not the same as the holding tank. My fish are kept by gender in separate holding tanks that are set up for long term holding with filter, gravel, what have you. My spawning tanks are all newly set up bare tanks ( with danios, there would be a layer of marbles on the bottom) with new clean water. The only thing "cycled" that ever needs to go into this tank is the sponge filter and that doesn't have to go in until the fry are swimming.
I understand that you are somewhat "behind the 8 ball"now as your fish spawned and you are now trying to catch up but in the future, you may want to purposely spawn your fish so you have more control of your situation. Having multiple sponge filters running in your holding tanks all the time allows you to remove one and use it in your fry tank(s) when necessary.
What you can do once you get your sponge filter(s) is to empty the 10 if it has not finished cycling and add the fry and your 5 gals of water into the 10 gal, start up the sponge filter and get some beneficial bacteria from some gravel from your established tanks or a filter cartridge and add it to this tank. This will seed the tank and help keep ammonia somewhat under control. Since you will not be feeding high amounts of food at first and will be doing water changes on a frequent basis, you should be able to maintain high water quality until the filter bed really gets established. Danio fry are better off (IMO) in a bare tank so that they can find their food easier. Using live plants as a source for infusoria is a good way to avoiding over feeding at the start. I used bunch plants like Anacharis, Cabomba, etc, so that there were many places that the infusoria could be on the plants. You only want to put the fry into a decorated tank after they are eating foods where they, say, come to the surface when you feed them or go to a certain spot because they know you will be feeding them there. Until then, the less stuff in the tank, the better. You also want to not use any other type filtering other than a sponge until the fry are big enough to swim away out of any current that may be present from HOB or canister filters.
Hope this helps
