New member, new baby glass catfish

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glcrumpacker

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
Messages
1
I've been mostly a casual keeper of tropical fish and have a 10-gallon mixed tropical tank including a female betta, three cory catfish, two glass catfish, a couple of neon tetra and a few snails. Yesterday I looked into the tank and noticed tiny baby fish, maybe 1/8" in length, and managed to scoop out 10-11 of them before the female betta finished eating them. Visually they appear to definitely be baby glass cats, and my understanding is that these fish seldom breed in captivity. So there's not much out there on keeping my babies.

At the moment I have them in a small temporary container and am feeding them powered TetraMin tropical flakes, which I can see them eating. I plopped one of my tiny snails in there to clean up debris, since it would be problematic to clean their water at this point in their growth; I'd almost certainly throw out some of the babies with the bathwater.

I'd welcome any input, advice or experience on rearing baby glass cats. So far my plan is to keep them in their current environment until they get big enough to not be eaten -- maybe about as big as a neon tetra, then introduce some of them into the main tank. If all the babies survive I'm going to have too many, but I'll jump off that bridge when I get to it.

Looking forward to sharing experience and gaining advice.
 
glcrumpacker said:
I've been mostly a casual keeper of tropical fish and have a 10-gallon mixed tropical tank including a female betta, three cory catfish, two glass catfish, a couple of neon tetra and a few snails. Yesterday I looked into the tank and noticed tiny baby fish, maybe 1/8" in length, and managed to scoop out 10-11 of them before the female betta finished eating them. Visually they appear to definitely be baby glass cats, and my understanding is that these fish seldom breed in captivity. So there's not much out there on keeping my babies.

At the moment I have them in a small temporary container and am feeding them powered TetraMin tropical flakes, which I can see them eating. I plopped one of my tiny snails in there to clean up debris, since it would be problematic to clean their water at this point in their growth; I'd almost certainly throw out some of the babies with the bathwater.

I'd welcome any input, advice or experience on rearing baby glass cats. So far my plan is to keep them in their current environment until they get big enough to not be eaten -- maybe about as big as a neon tetra, then introduce some of them into the main tank. If all the babies survive I'm going to have too many, but I'll jump off that bridge when I get to it.

Looking forward to sharing experience and gaining advice.

Hi and welcome to AA. Always nice to have fry! Just a couple of things I've noticed. You will need to preform water changes daily if you plan on keeping the fry in the container. Fry are sensitive to water conditions. Also you need to make sure the container is made of food grade plastic. I suggest you get a fry trap/breeder box to keep them in the main tank.

With your fish I have to say you have your tank incorrectly stocked. :( What kind of cories do you have? They might be a larger variety that need a larger tank. They also need a school of 4-6 minimum. They neon tetras need a school of at least 6 and require more swimming space than a 10g can provide. They are very active little fish. The glass cats, if I remember correctly, need a 30g tank minimum and a large school. They I've been know to die of loneliness.

I you want to post some pictures of the fry I'm sure someone will be able to identify them for you.

Again welcome!
 
The advice above is correct - read carefully.

Hello and Welcome to AA
 
I disagree with the information posted by mumma.of.two. the glass cat is a very intresting fish and babies even more interesting. in a tank about 30 gallons you can pack it almost to the rim and the fish will still be happy. i have a 35 gallon tank and a 150 gallon tank that i have supported and they have had fish growing and having babies in them for about 10 years now. i would like to say the water quality does matter in the tank with the babies. you will probobly not want to put them into the larger tank even if they are in a little baby box in the main tank because they can be scared and they will stress and die. i would keep the babies in a small tank 5 gallons or so and then they will start living on their own. once they are of large enough size start putting them in a slightly bigger tank. do not put them right from your 5 gallon to a 100 gallon they will freak out and die. as for the amount of each species needed it doesnt matter the fish will be happy either way. it is good to have more so they dont get ganged up on but i do disagree with the needing of 6 in each that is not a very good statistic. i know the babies are already grown but i had to correct the misunderstood comments made up top.
 
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