kaitym

One of my friends has a pregnant guppy that should be due any day now. I've got a 5.5 gallon tank that isn't being used for anything at the moment so I offered to take the fry off of her hands. My only question now is, should I decorate the tank or leave it bare? There wont be anything else in there until after the fry develop enough and I can re-house them. I've got the filter, gravel, and plants that I had in there origionally. I have a heater which is currently in my 10 that houses a betta. The betta tank is upstairs where the heat is always set to 78. The fry tank would be downstairs which wouldn't really be a problem, but in Maine it's still kinda chilly in the early/spring. Would it be alright if I took it out and used it for the fry tank? Kinda lost with all of this, but I want to do it right...

agabr123

i'd probably leave it bare except for maybe a few plants, it's much easier to keep clean and the fry will need pristine water. you can try removing the heater but the tank temp will stay between 1-2 degrees below the ambient temp of the room, i'd just keep a very close eye on the thermometer to see how much the temperature fluctuates, and if it stays at a steady 76-77 at least then you'll probably be okay removing it temporarily.

Jonah

Alex is spot on (again) in the early days a few plants and a bare bottom are best for fry, they can graze the plants for food, and hid amongst them to reduce stress. Also feed finely crushed , by finely crushed i mean powdered, flake and possibly some hard boiled egg yolk mashed with tank water and droppered into the tank with a cocktail stick.

Again as Alex said the cleaner you keep the water the more fry will survive so daily 20% pwc for the 1st few weeks.

ray_sj

You should also make sure the fry can't get sucked into your filter intake. I'm not familiar with your filter, but if the intake holes are too big, you can cover it with a sponge or some netting to protect the fry.

I have about 20 guppy fry in my 5.5gal, with sponge filter, heater, and a floating plastic plant. Works great.

COBettaCouple

Sounds like good advice. Whenever I'd raise livebearer fry in their own tank, the setup was a bare bottom with a few plants and caves, a sponge filter and a heater to keep the water 78-80F. I fed them powered food 4 times a day, giving small amounts to let them eat more of the food. Daily water changes and cleaning helped keep the amount of debris down.

kaitym

Thanks for all the advice. I've got the tank up and running with nothing in it. I had already cycled the tank before hand, had my betta in it. Moved him into a new 10 gallon and hadn't gotten around to taking the smaller one down. I emptied the gravel out and took the plants out. Was thinking a small cave and a few plants would be alright until they get big enough to either give away or swap tanks. Would putting a piece of nylon (like pantyhose) over the intake be an ok idea?

Jonah

It would be a perfect idea

Shawnie

congrats on the new babies!! after you moved the betta out, did you keep some type of ammonia source in the 5 gal while it was empty? ......it will kill the cycle if it was without some source to feed the bacteria ...so keep a good eye out on the parimeters

kaitym

I'm goin to go pick up the momma fish today. Will the cycle have died already?

OldMan

The filter will stay cycled for several days with no fish. In the long run the bacteria will die off but not in just a day or two.

kaitym

I moved one of the plants into the tank yesterday and moved the heater but I noticed that my betta was acting oddly. The water temp had dropped faster and farther than I had expected. I put the heater back into the tank and went out and bought a new one. Figured it wouldn't hurt to spend a little money just to keep my betta happy. No fry at the moment but I'm not too worried about it just yet. Probably stressed her a little in the move.. Wasn't exactly a smooth ride, the roads here are horrible.

COBettaCouple

Glad to hear that your Betta has a heater. If you can pick up an extra fish net, I find that cutting the netting off and securing it around the intake with a rubber band helps keep the fry out but allows small debris in so it doesn't get clogged as fast as pantyhose.

kaitym

I've had a heater in the tank since I got him. I was told, and read, that bettas need warmer water. And where the temps here can change so quickly I figured it was a good idea to have a heater. I got a new one for the fry tank and it's all set up and waiting..

kaitym

So the momma guppy died before she dropped her fry That's the way life goes I suppose..

agabr123

i'm so sorry she died

COBettaCouple

I'm sorry that you lost her, we recently lost 2 german blue girls the same way.

kaitym

Thanks. She wasn't looking too great the day before. I thought she was just stressed from the ride/move. My friend was upset and had to explain to her kids why "Momma Fish" wasn't comming home...