Miracle Birth

[spilzer]

I had a big surprise last night when I came home from being out of town.

When I went to check on my tank there was a tiny little danio swimming around. Now this is even more amazing because I recently returned the 4 danios I had to the LFS. I guess they must have spawned just before being brought back and I didn't notice the fry until this weekend because they were too small to see. I don't think there are any siblings suriving but still what a miracle! I suspect that the baby never would have made it if the parents were still around so it's only sheer luck that the timing worked out.

The only problem is I'm not really set up to house fry. Luckily the 29 gallon tank that this little guy is in is waiting to be overhauled so it's practically empty, just one pleco to keep him company. Do you think I can let the danio grow up in this tank or should I try to move him to a separate tank? Also how should I protect him from being sucked into the filter? I was thinking of putting a sponge or rag on it, any suggestions of how to do this?

This is my first fishy birth so I'm a surprised but happy fish momma.

[neilanh]

Congrats!

He'll be fine in that tank. You'll possibly want to get a pre-filter for the intake. I use the filters for aquaclear HOBs, cut to size, then I use a knife to create a cross-shaped slit down the middle to slide it over the intake strainer.

Also, not sure what type of filtration you have on the tank he was found in, but you may want to open and inspect your filter, as there may be more in it.

hikari makes a food called First Bites which would be good to feed him with. That or if you're setup to hatch baby brine shrimp that's good for fry as well.

[spilzer]

I went out and got the filter cartridge and placed it over the filter intake so the little guy should be safe from that now.

I also picked up some first bites for him. I was surprised that it was just powdery stuff, is that what it's supposed to be? I guess that makes sense for the little fish but I figured it would just be tiny flakes or pellets not powder. How much do I feed, a pinch? Less?

I never expected I would need to know how to raise baby fish!

[neilanh]

Yeah, it's basically a powder. I take a small pinch, and place it on the surface, then I dip my fingers under the water and cloud the water with whatever's left on my hand. My fry seem to not realize there's food on the surface, and will eat what's floating in the water.

[spilzer]

Cool. It just seemed like such a lot of food for this one little danio. I'm super cautious about overfeeding.

[spilzer]

So, a few weeks have passed since I first found my little danio and he's growing up well. He's so much bigger than before but I'm wondering if he'll be able to hold his own against other larger fish. I have a gourami and some serpae tetras that I want to introduce into the 29 gal. but I'm afraid that they'll gobble up the baby fish as a snack.

How big do you think he has to be before he stands a chance?

Would it help if I got some more danios for him to school with?

[An t-iasg]

He would probably be happy with some more danios. I would wait to introduce other fish until he's big enough not to fit in any of their mouths.