Never again will I ever use a breeder box.

They are quite possible the WORST things you could use to contain your baby fish. >

First, the slats are too big, they let the tiny fry escape, I lost 2 fry this way, bringing me down to eight.
Just now this morning when I woke up, my breeder box (which is held by suction cups) was down in the gravel in my tank. 5 of my eight fry escaped. Our power was out (back on now), so I could not look for them, it was too dark. So not knowing what to do, I put the 3 remaining fry in the ten gallon with my eight tadpoles (its filtered, but no heat). This tank was not cycled, however, it is in its Nitrite stage. Of course I cannot do a water change (which is needed). Although these conditions were fine for the tadpoles, they are not for a fish. So I wait, in about an hour our power is back on.

I immediately look for more fry, I found two more, bringing my count to a pitiful five. So I put them in and do a 75% water change, moving a good amount of the filter media from my 35 gal to my 10 gal. Hopefully this will help. I am buying prime at the earliest I can get it, sometime this week. Until then I will do 75% water changes 1x per day. It stays nice and warm here anyway, 78-80*F, so the fry should be ok. Just wanted to vent my anger about this whole situation, I'm going to go look for more fry, but they probably got eaten by my silver dollars or my new gourami (whom I rescued, as he was going to be flushed). :-\ > >
Brianna

 

Sorry about your fry. It really stinks to lose them. What kind of fry were they?

The breeder net I use has arms that you bend around the top of your tank to hold it in place and the mesh is very, very fine. I will try to get a brand name for you when I get home if I can remember.

 

thanks, these were platy fry, gold twinbars. This was the only breeder box I could find, I am gonna get a breeder net. I found one more, so out of eight, I have 6, not too bad. I really liked them though. Brianna :-\

 

Why would you not use a breeder net? It has a mesh around it so the fish cannot escape at all.
Tom

 

I'm sorry to hear that you lost those fry - not your fault - but the store for selling those crappy things. Until you use one, it looks like a good idea, but I hate those breeder boxes & wish they wouldn't sell them. A breeder net would be good, or a small tank for them with a sponge filter and submersible heater.. like one of those critter carriers.

 

Hi, for now they are quite at home in the 10 gal. I am going to move the tadpoles though. It is a pretty nice set-up. I've got an aquaclear 10-20 gal filter, that I got for free. with a net around it so no one gets sucked up. Sand for substrate, a neon cave, 2 plants, and a plastic diver guy. They love it in there, they are not scared at anything!! Once they are 6 weeks (they are 2 now) they should be able to go in with the big fish, or find homes for them :'( . More babies are due soon so I will have to put more in there anyway, so the tadpoles have to go anyway. Brianna

 

I had that happen the first time and switched to a breeder net. The nylon netting is too small for the fry to get through. It's been a success ever since. Sorry you had issues with the other type.

 

I have heard that same story from a number of people. I can understand why you would need to vent. I used a breeding net and it was alright. Good luck with your remaining babies.

 

That's really awful.

What are you going to do about your tadpole/fry tank sharing situation?

 

Sorry but I love my breeder boxes. Both are different types and my fry NEVER escape. I like them better because I find them easier to clean with the fry in them. When I had a net a lot of junk got stuck in the net but when I have my box I can clean it better. Mine have slits that get narrower. Sorry about your mishap.

 

Sorry to hear what happened and I guess it depends on the qualities of breeder boxes. :-\