critter_fritter79

OK, on to the next crisis in my carefree life...lol. Found out my mom is going to have to have spine surgery in about 3 weeks. She lives in Texas, about 900 miles from me and needs me to be there. Problem is this... my betta fry that hatched on the 8th of this month are somehow going to have to come with me as there is nobody to take care of them at home. Anytime I go to visit, I load up my truck with tanks and the backseat with coolers of fish since visits there usually last 6-8 weeks. She always has aged water waiting for me and I have never had trouble taking the ones I need to with me. I do leave my oscars for my fiance to handle but they are the only ones I leave. One tank is all he can handle. Does anyone have any advice on how to move my little fry without injuring or killing them? i know it sounds bad but I honestly believe their chances are better if I take them. I love him to death but there is no way he can care for fry! Help!!

Shawnie

im sorry about your mom..i hope she recovers fast!! but IMO they are too sensitive to move I hope MM has better advice...

critter_fritter79

thanks shawnie...I am sure it will be fine. As far as the moving of the fry, I won't be leaving until the 4th or 5th..don't know if this will help any at all!

Shawnie

if you are sure they will be fine, why the thread lol

Meenu

I think she meant her mom will be fine. She's still looking for a solution for the fry.

Shawnie

ahh ty ..my brunette moments are bad today!!!! LOL

critter_fritter79

lol shawnie...yeah I meant I am sure Mom will be fine. The fry moving is what is concerning me at the moment. (not that I am not concerned about her..don't mean to sound like that if i do!) I am terrified at the thought of moving them but even more terrified at the thought of leaving them in my fiance's care... fiance being the one who put the bleach in my angel tank and killed all but 1. Well meaning as he is, I just don't feel safe leaving him in charge of my babies!!

P.S. He is still holding up his end of the water change slave deal!!

Martinismommy

Although I have never done this I would suggest the following:

Drain the tank they are in down so it is light enough to move into the car....Tightly wrap the top with plastic wrap and put a piece of elastic around it to keep it snug........Turn the heater on in the car and don't turn it off the whole trip .....The main thing you don't want is for them to get cold.....Betta fry are super sensitive to elements.....

I think you'll be OK......After all, we are talking about your Mother needing you.....You don't really have a choice........

Good luck and I hope all goes well and that your Mother recovers soon....

Red1313

Hmmm... I know that betta fry are incredibly sensitive and while I understand not wanting to leave them to your boyfriends tender care moving them will be tricky.
1) You'll want to keep as much if not all the water that they're currently in, and very very carefully add your mothers water to it (ie on drop at a time)
2) I think for "catching" the fry... I know there's a stage where some beeders "vac" them from the spawning tank to the larger one but I'm not sure how old they need to be for that.
3) You'll have to be super careful on the move. I'm talking battery powered air pump, a heater, the whole works if you can do it.

Wishing you the best and hopefully MM has more advice for you.

'd by MM

Meenu

what is MM? I read it a lot and haven't a clue what it means. (Sorry about the hijack)

Shawnie

do you think them swishing around in the tank on the drive is good? thats what I was worried about as the heat can be achieved with the car heater as you said...

and MM is martinismommy

Martinismommy

It's me......It's short for Martinismommy......I've bred a few Bettas

Martinismommy

It really depends on what she has them in....A 5 gallon being better than a 10....The only proble is moving them into something smaller is going to stress them out..I always lose a bunch when I transfer to my grow out tank and I don't do that until week 6......Maybe she can gently move them into something smaller a week before....Like I said, I've never had to do this and I'm darn glad I haven't!

BTW Shawnie, check your e mail!

eiginh

Turning the heater on the whole trip? Whoa! I hope it's not hot where you live! Can she just use heater packs instead?

Meenu

Thanks for the clarification!

Martinismommy

I suppose she could use heat packs...Maybe put them in a plastic storage bin and tape it to the lid....

critter_fritter79

Right now i have all my adults in their own 6.5 gallon clear tote with lid...maybe i could swap tanks with one of the adults and the 10 gallon the fry are in. Battery operated air pump with stone is not a problem and i have plenty of hot packs i can use. Do you think it would be safer to transfer them to one of the totes or to move them in their 10 gallonn? If it is best to move them in the tank they are already in, I can drain the tank till it is light enough to carry and just put the water I drain out into some 3 gallon water jugs I have. That way I can refill the tank when I get there with the original water from their tank. Do you all think this is a good idea?

P.S. I also have an adapter for my car lighter plug that lets me plug in regular wall plugs..I had forgotten I had it! I got it for my laptop but any wall plug works so a heater for the trip is not a problem!

Martinismommy

If you are going to move the babies do it a week before you leave so they have time to adjust...As far as water when you get there I'd take gallon milk jugs filled up with fresh water from your house with you..Fry need clean water so taking the old stuff may not be a good idea...

critter_fritter79

Thanks everybody for the great ideas and well wishes!! They are both greatly appreciated! I think I might just leave them in their 10 and drain some of the water when the time comes...and definitely take some fresh water with me. So far the fry seem to be coming along well, at 10 days old I haven't lost very many...yet at least! Thanks again everyone!!

Annadvn

I have moved betta fry at 10 days of age from my friends house to mine and i lost all but 1.

Keep the water low, drive very steady and use loads of moss to cushion the sloshing, as i am convinced that they were dying because of the sloshing and hitting the sides of the tank over temperature changes. Also beware that the glass tank (assuming its a glass tank you have them in) might break if there is too much sloshing with the pressure on the glass.

I would make sure you keep the temp up in the car. The sloshing of the water should be enough to keep the water aerated but adding an air stone will help if you are worried.

If you have time, put a jar of water half full on the dash board of your car and drive around, this will give you an idea of how much the water will slosh around as you are driving so you know how carefully you need to drive to prevent the sloshing.

Good luck

Anna

critter_fritter79

Thanks! I definitely have time for a few experiments since I am not leaving for another 2 weeks. I drive a truck so it is a little bumpier than most cars but the roads on the way down are pretty smooth..interstate all the way!! I was already planning on getting a few more 10 gallon tanks for breeding tanks, I think I will go ahead and get at least one more now. I will go ahead and get one more, fill it about 1/3 - 1/2 full and see just how bad the sloshing will be in an identical, empty tank. Thanks again...your jar idea gave me the idea for the new 10 gallon experiment!

Red1313

I second the idea of filling it up with moss. I've moved a half full tank in a car before and you def. get alot of splashing out on.

critter_fritter79

I was wondering if I could cut a piece of styrofoam and place it in the tank an inch or so above the water line? I will have an air pump going and a heater. if i cut small holes for the cords to fit and make sure the heater is closer to the bottom so it doesn't come in contact with the styrofoam, do you think that would help cut down on the sloshing??

COBettaCouple

When we had to move all our fish, including our bettas, a sick platy and some platy fry from Florida to Colorado, I found a soft-sided insulated cooler box in sporting goods at walmart. I put the fish in breathing bags from Kordon and their water was treated with Vita-Chem, Prime, Fish Protector and a real small amount of meth. blue.

The cooler kept them from banging on anything hard, the fish protector and meth blue helped with stress levels, the prime helped with toxin levels and the vita-chem gave them nutrients without food.

critter_fritter79

Ok, I have about a week until I leave and I have decided to move them into a smaller 3 gallon tank for the journey. MM, you said to move them about a week before, so I figure it is time. What is the best method to use to get them into the new tank with as little stress as possible? Like I said in my fry update, there are about 30-35 of them. They are nice and fat and swimming around a lot. I think I have finally overcome my bad timing and luck with fry food and don't want to lose any if I can help it!!

critter_fritter79

I went ahead and moved them to the smaller tank last night. I used a piece of flexible air hose to suck the little guys from the big tank to the little one. It seems to have worked great! Once again, there were more than I thought, between 45-50. This morning they are swimming happily and eatinglike little piggies. So far I have only lost one and it was very small compared to the others. I tried to take pics f the fry, but my camera just can't do it. The parents are both red veiltails but I swear when I shine the flashlight on the babies 3 or 4 of them look almost like they have blue or green coming out. I thought that red was a dominant color and that breeding 2 reds would give me 100% red babies. Goodness knows I can certainly be wrong but I could swear that is what I read. Here are some pics of their new tank. There are a few babies visible in the second one.

Attached Images

	Fry 10-24-09.JPG (547.1 KB, 38 views)
	Fry 10-25-09.JPG (649.1 KB, 37 views)
	Fry 10-25-09 pt 2.JPG (611.3 KB, 37 views)

bolivianbaby

You can see them if you look VERY closely. Aaawww, they're so cute!

critter_fritter79

I have been here in Texa for a week and a half now and amazingly NONE of my fry have died. They all made the trip like real troopers!! Mom is doing great! Thanks everyone for all the help!

uprightandlocked

How did you finally come to do it? Just curious? And I'm happy to hear your mom is doing well!!

Red1313

Glad your mom and the fry are both doing fine.