Need words of comfort

[Rolance]

So I had my first fry story tonight (glofish zebra danios) . I noticed a small creature moving in the tank and tried to get it out when one of my glofish ate it before I could get to it. Later on I realized there were fry coming up from the rocks.
All I had was this one tank but I quickly siphoned some tank water into a bucket and scooped up my glofish and put em in the bucket. I didn't know what to do because it was 11:30 pm so I had to go to walmart and I bought the 10 gal starter kit. I did not want to do this because of starting a new cycle but I want to succeed in keeping these fry alive.
I got the tank and some gravel and set it all up. I used prime and I put one of the two filter media pads from the fluval view tank and put it in the filter for the 10 gallon. Hopefully that will help. I matched the temperatures and pH as close as possible then put my adult fish in the tank. I've counted 14 fry swimming around so far and there are still some stuck in the rocks and I still see a couple eggs. I will post some picks.
My worry is that some are getting stuck in this crack where the white back piece meets the clear part of the tank. Also I am worried they will not get out the rocks. Should I keep lights on a lot or not a lot? I'm now worried about my adult fish in a new tank and the baby's in the old one. It's a mess. And imma only get 2 1/2 hours of sleep. Here's the pics. Any tips or advice on what I should do now just let me know please.

 

[artzechic]

Hi there,
First of all, try not to panic. I have guppy fry and molly fry over a month old and happy/healthy. I put them in a brand new tank I had set up that same day because I had a similar emergency to yours. This is what I suggest and maybe you have already done so, but just in case you haven't. Here you go.

1. take as much of the old gravel as you can from your already cycled tank (avoid the fry/eggs as much as you can) and put it into the new tank. This will give the new tank a boost with the beneficial bacteria that is already on the old gravel.

2. The transferring of the older filter media pad was a good idea as long as it is not too dirty to be able to filter. I would also suggest putting in one of the old black wirey mesh looking pads from the older filter if you have it, because that will have a lot of good bacteria on it and help the tank from spiking. If you have some live plants you can put into the new tank, do that.

3. Over the next couple of months CHECK CHECK CHECK the water in the new tank for Nitrites, ammonia, and nitrates. I check mine every day and I've only had the nitrates go up a little ONE time when I overfed them.

4. on that note, don't overfeed the fish in the new tank. For the next 4 weeks while your tank is cycling, watch your fish eat. When you feed them, give them 5-10 minutes. Whatever they don't eat, suck it up and get it out of the tank! (I personally use a baby nose sucker thing you can get in the infant aisle at Walmart for about $2) It works amazingly and because it is so small, I suck up food and not gravel. This will keep all the nitrites, ammonia, and nitrates down.

5. Only do a water change once every 4 or 5 days if you have to. I made the mistake of changing my water out EVERY 2 days and my nitrates wouldn't go down! My fish lived, but once I let the water go for about 4 days without touching it, the nitrates went down again. So, change the water only when the water tests say that your nitrites or ammonia are not at 0. (You can get most large pet stores like Petsmart to test your water for free). A lot of times though, they will give you the correct readings, but terrible advice, so I'd say get your readings and message for advice on here when you get home if needed.

6. If you need any more advice or have any questions, feel free to pm me. I'll be online until 8am today.

 

[artzechic]

Also, tips for next time.

It's a much better idea to take the new fry out of the tank as strange as that sounds, because they will be able to handle it much better than the adults. I will say in your case, taking the adults out may have been the right choice only because adults tend to be more resiliant to changes in water. So, good job, but once it is a cycled tank, I'd say pick one for the adults to be in permanently and use the other one as a fry tank. This way, if sadly some fry die in the process, you have the adults that can make more. As much as I do get sad when fry die, at least if I still have my adults, then I know that I can try again and redeem myself. So far, though, I've only lost a few angelfish fry that my friend gave me to attempt to keep from being eaten. They weren't expected to live and sadly they didn't.

 

[Rolance]

Thank you for the advice. I will keep updating his it is going. I'm glad to hear of someone else who has been in my position

 

[Rolance]

There are holes at the bottom of the white back piece in the tank and I tried covering them up with rocks but I think a few of the fry are getting sucked through. What should I do?? Should I turn the tank off for a while. How long could it be turned off for? Do they need the circulation? Can I buy something to put in front of those holes? I don't want all this work to be done for nothing. I won't be home for another 9 or 10 hours but my brother can turn the filter off for me

 

[Rolance]

See the holes down there? I covered them with rocks but some are still getting through. I had at least 14 swimming around last night and there weren't as many this Mornin.

 

[creic38]

I would offer this....buy yourself one of those breeding nets that hang off the side of the tank (on the inside, of course). They are only a couple of dollars and this will allow you to keep the adults and fry in the same tank. Grab as many of the fry as you can. They are easier to catch than one would think. They practically swim into the net out of curiosity. Don't kill yourself trying to get every single one, unfortunately they won't all make it as has already been mentioned. And for feeding I would recommend once every other day for the adults and once a day for the fry. You will have an easy time with that because of the breeder net.

What you did with the new tank was the right thing to do. Moving gravel will help, but not too much. The breeder net will eliminate that extra work. The other issue with moving gravel is no matter how much you think you get when you clean, there is always buildup in there. If you start disturbing the gravel in that fry tank, you may inadvertently create an ammonia spike which would be certain death for the babies.

Lastly, I know the net might be an eyesore, but fry are usually safe to be with the adults after just a few weeks. It's a small price to pay to keep them alive.

This advise is being given from my experience. I was pretty successful several times, so I hope this helps. Congrats on the fry and good luck. I will be following the thread if you have any other questions.

 

[Rolance]

How do they stay in the net if they can swim into it? And can I buy that at petco?

 

[Fresh2o]

The fact you are saving some of them is great. I have a moderately planted tank with lots of cover and my danios were breeding regularly. Despite that I managed to save only one (was placed in a hang on breeder and a month or two later joined the general population). My danios are good hunters and will scour the gravel and java moss for eggs. Good luck!

 

[creic38]

By net I meant the net to catch them with, then you just put them in the breeder net. I think I bought mine in Petland Discounts. It was under 5 bucks. They also have breeder boxes. I prefer the net because you get water flow in there and it will be less maintenance. Just syphon out the uneaten food. The box will work a well, you'll just have to dump a little water into the tank and pour some back in with a cup or something.

 

[Rolance]

Ok I'll try. I just hope because of the awkwardness of the way the fluval view is set up that It doesn't trap and kill all the fry. You can see in the pictures how some are trapped in between the white and clear part of the tank. That white back is the whole filter system. It slides up and out of the tank. I might try to slide it out and save as many as I can into a breeder net. I just hope there are still some alive when I get home from work today. Wish I could just leave.

 

[creic38]

You'll be fine. Just get those little buggers in the breeder today. I'm sure they're still full of spunk and will be able to swim their way out of it.

 

[Rolance]

Ok thanks. I sure hope so

 

[Rolance]

I just bought a sponge and some cheese cloth to block the holes for the filter system. Imma try that out and figure out how imma make it stay down there in front of those holes. I might can take that back white piece out and tie it down there with fishing string maybe

Should I also get a breeding net still?

 

[Rolance]

My water parameters: For the new tank with the adults it is: pH - 7.6 Ammo - 0ppm Nitrite - 0 ppm Nitrate - 5 ppm

For the 5 gallon with fry in it is: pH - 7.4 Ammo - 0ppm Nitrite - 0ppm Nitrate - 40ppm

 

[creic38]

Not sure if the adult danios eat their young, so that's up to you if you want to take that chance.....unless someone else can advise on that. The 40ppm nitrate is right on the border of being too high. Some will tell you it is too high. I'd change around 25% of that water to knock that down, then again tomorrow. I'm not a fan of huge water changes in one shot, unless the water you're putting in matches perfectly. Again, others will tell you it's ok. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Fresh2o]

Not sure if the adult danios eat their young, so that's up to you if you want to take that chance.....unless someone else can advise on that. The 40ppm nitrate is right on the border of being too high. Some will tell you it is too high. I'd change around 25% of that water to knock that down, then again tomorrow. I'm not a fan of huge water changes in one shot, unless the water you're putting in matches perfectly. Again, others will tell you it's ok. That's just my opinion though.

Yes, they will eat their young. I have seen fry clinging to the glass (not quite at the swimming stage) and adults picking them off. Adults hunt for eggs as well; I have seen adults dive into clumps of moss with only their tails showing as dig away. Save them if you can.

 

[Rolance]

I put the adults in a different tank. There's about 20 of them in there now. About how many should live?

 

[artzechic]

It all depends on how much time you can dedicate to them and whether or not the mom had any problems with the pregnancy. Might already be some sickly ones that will die no matter what you do.

 

[Rolance]

I am going to leave the filter off because it is killing them. I might look into getting a cheap 6 or 7 dollar sponge filter to use till the fry get bigger. Ive got a bubbler going and will feed once or twice a day. Thanks for all the help