dancerhas

I am flipping out!

we were changing the water in our Q tank when we discovered a little wiggly baby platy in our bucket. We quickly scooped him out and put him in a little container. We proceeded to find about 4 more dead fry.

We're floating his container in our 29 gallon tank to keep the temp stable. But I really don't know anything else about keeping fry. Is it normal for them to sit still for periods and then swim around? How should I feed him? Does he need aeration? HELP!

Shawnie

whahoo for babies LOL

just keep him in the floater and crush up some flakes so they are really tiny....airation can come from whatever you have in your tank..I put a bubble wand a lil bit under the breeder box just to keep the water moving around..but dont blow the babies too much ! congrats grampa! LOL

GouramiGirl1221

I completely understand how you feel. I found 2 celebes half beak and 2 swordtail fry in my 55 gal all in the same day...talk about a spazz attack. There are these really neat "net hatcheries" that you can hang on the inside of your tank, so they will be in cycled water with plenty of aeration from the rest of your tank with a stable temp. Mine was only 5-6 dollars I think. I lost one half beak and one swordtail since I found them, but the swordtail that has made it thus far does sometimes sit on the bottom of her net and then swim around for a bit, then sit some more.

What some others on the forum suggested for feeding is frozen baby brine shrimp. I've also been feeding mine tetra-min crisps, tubifex worms, and bloodworms (all very finely ground up). You should be feeding them 2-3 times a day since they'll be growing so quickly. Best of luck to you, I understand how exciting and nerve racking it is!

dancerhas

Thanks for your replies! The floating container is unfortunately just a plastic box, there's no holes for water flow or anything. Should I drill some holes in it? I don't really know how I'd keep him in though. We powderized some of our omega one flakes for food. We may move him to a breeder net if we can get one.

Dozey

You do need to keep water flowing through the box. Drilling holes small enough to keep the fry in I doubt would accommodate much water flow. So I will suggest larger whole and rapping the box in pantyhose. Not expert advice here, just gave it some thought and throwing it out there.

Hmm... Gave it some more thought. Holes may make it sink without a bit of flotation that could easily be held in place with the pantyhose.

Shawnie

great idea dozey!!!!!!! (not to mention its all about the pantyhose!)

but the breeder boxes that you buy has minute holes in them and plenty of water gets thru with a bubble wand underneath..at least enough water to keep it moving

they also make breeder boxes that are made out of netting...got one myself tonite for $5 ...goodluck either way !

dancerhas

Thanks Dozey, I actually had the exact same idea. The hard part would be seeing in the box, and getting into it for feeding. But that is definitely an option. I actually just used a push-pin to punch about 50 little holes in the box, I intend to add more later. If this doesn't seem to work I'm probably going to go the pantyhose route.

Dozey

Let us know how you make out. It’s an experiment in progress and would be great to know what ends up working for. It’s not always possible to run out and buy a breeder box when we discover we had a pregnant fish. Would be a great thread, “How to build an emergency breeder box”.

Shawnie

anyone that has livebearers should always have one on hand hahahahah ...never know with those rabbits of the fish world..and there is a thread going that someone made one out of a net and some potatoe chip bag clips somewhere

Dozey

Very true, but keep in mind the new members. Most, likely don’t know what livebearers are. Much less that their cichlids are going to make a quick snack of them. Jokes aside, a lot of members (myself included) are here because we don’t know what we are doing. So emergency fixes really come in handy.

Shawnie

im a newbie also and dancer has been here a wile...hes a new grampie tho!

heres the link Made a "Spawing Net"...With Photos!

dancerhas

Thanks! I'm thinking of making a setup like that for the future....we're bound to have more fry.

Right now he's sitting in a corner, I hope he's ok...I call him Trooper because he's gone through so much.

catbtony

In a pinch...I have used a fine mesh fish net and duct tape-(you know your a redneck when) LOL-I have made make-shift filter out of old fish net, duct tape, poly-fill too....and most aqu lid will hold down the net without tape depend on what type you have. To feed just crush up flakes and not to sound heartless but unless you just want to keep fry they make a great snack for other fish and even better if you gut load them..good luck