3.5 Pico ?'s

[spittinfly]

Ok, I have had a school of Molly fry for about a month now maybe longer. They have all grown to about 1"+ except for 1. He/she is still only 1/4" long litteraly no growth. We see it eat a little but mostly spits its food back out. Now I didn't post this in sick fish cause he is still alive and seemingly doing very well. Just tiny.

So I decided to give him his own home. A little glass bowl with some of his original substrate, two frags of rock and a small piece of driftwood. I also gave him a snail friend to keep company. I went to a local pond and found what I think is Java Moss (probably wrong, it is very fine looking almost like baby doll hair, very whispy) and I kinda planted it under one of the rocks with plenty exposed. I have been doing daily water changes and it is sitting next to the kitchen window with a west view.

Well, what does everybody think? Is the setup ok? Any suggestions on the plant? Should I do pwc's every other day?

Thanks for the help I will try to get pics soon.

[theotheragentm]

At a 1/4" isn't the fry large enough to survive in the big tank? What you're seeing with spitting out is biting off smaller chunks. All fish do this when a piece of food is too large. They put it in their mouth and spit some back out.

PWCs every other day should suffice if the fish is that small. Does this tank have a heater? With the temperature difference between day and night, you will want a heater of some sort. You may have pulled some sort of string algae from the pond rather than moss.

[spittinfly]

Would the algea still create the filtration I need? And my wife says yes she sees the fish eat a ton but never get any bigger. No way in the big tank! It literally has not grown a mm since birth. Very succeptable to the Tiger Barbs and other Mollys/Platys in the tank. Thanks for the response though.

ps.

Oh yeah, there is no heater in the cup. I will try to swap thermometers tonight with one of the tanks and try to get some readings today and tomorrow. The house does stay pretty regular so I don't think the swings are that severe.

[theotheragentm]

If the fish hasn't grown much since birth, it is going ot be well under 1/4" in size. It may just be a runt fish. Filtration isn't necessary if you're going to keep up with the water changes if the fish really is that small as long as you are not overfeeding. If you want to see if the fish will still grow, try feeding live foods.

[spittinfly]

Baby brine shrimp? Will the stuff I can get from Wal-Mart on the shelf work?

[theotheragentm]

Originally Posted by spittinfly

Baby brine shrimp? Will the stuff I can get from Wal-Mart on the shelf work?

I bet you can get a brine shrimp hatchery at Walmart. It's worth a shot.