Chief_waterchanger

Another method, (Dave's is good, but just a different way of doing it, so you have more options) we use pretty thick sponges, cut a hole in them lengthwise in the center and slip them over the intake valve. That provides more surface for bacteria, a good place for microfauna for the babies, and keeps the current down.

As for getting poop off of the bottom, buy a very thin length of airhose. Like the width of a pea or something nearly that small, and siphon out into a bucket. You can go slow along the bottom of the tank and get the fecal matter without running too much of a risk of getting the babies, and if you are draining into a bucket you can pull out any babies that choose to take the rollercoaster of fun.

COBettaCouple

sounds like a hybrid power/sponge filter kind of. i love the idea for cleaning the bottom. we'll have to look for real thin airhose for the next time we have a batch of fry.

scripted2change

I have been cleaning the bottom which the hose and not using anything actually. I have the light on so i am can see all of the babies. They are about 10 days old now so they are getting bigger so it isnt as hard anymore. I clean the bottom of the tanks 2 times a week so that means i change about 30% of the water each time so do you think that is good enough for a week?..

COBettaCouple

it sounds good. water testing would confirm for sure.

scripted2change

Another one of my fish had 46 babies as of so far. also where can i get the strips to test my water for free. Also how many fish for a 10 gallon. have platys, guppies, and mollies.

COBettaCouple

you don't want the strips - they're notoriously inaccurate and in the long run, you can save money by using a liquid testing kit. This is the one we use:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113074
it's much more accurate and you can do many, many, many tests from 1 kit and spend less money.

for stocking a tank, the general guideline for small fish is 1 gallon of water per adult inch of fish. So you could stock up to 10" (adult size) of fish in the 10 gallon tank. That would work out to about 5 platys or 6 guppies.