Please help :') Food for newly hatched WCMM

Got 6 White Cloud Mountain Minnows a little more than a month ago and had them in a 10-gallon tank. Three days ago while I was doing a water change, a little tiny baby came up to the glass and gave me a stare. I was super surprised as I am a newbie and have only been keeping fish for 2 months...

I'm not sure if the adults are eating the eggs/fries so I moved the 6 adult fish to another tank. The babies are soooo tiny and I have no time to grow infusoria culture (just started yesterday, definitely won't be ready tomorrow or the day after when they become free-swimming). I ordered Sera Micron Nature Fry Food, Hikari Freeze-Dried Spirulina Brine Shrimp, and organic Spirulina from Amazon. My plan is to grind them into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle and feed the fries once they are ready... But I'm afraid of making a mistake and killing my fries...

Should I move the fries into another temporary container as there is a thick layer of gravel in the 10gal which will make maintenance difficult? What food or combination of foods will benefit the fries the most? Please help me out :') Even though I never expected them to show up in the tank but they are super cute and I really want to keep them alive!

 

Got 6 White Cloud Mountain Minnows a little more than a month ago and had them in a 10-gallon tank. Three days ago while I was doing a water change, a little tiny baby came up to the glass and gave me a stare. I was super surprised as I am a newbie and have only been keeping fish for 2 months...

I'm not sure if the adults are eating the eggs/fries so I moved the 6 adult fish to another tank. The babies are soooo tiny and I have no time to grow infusoria culture (just started yesterday, definitely won't be ready tomorrow or the day after when they become free-swimming). I ordered Sera Micron Nature Fry Food, Hikari Freeze-Dried Spirulina Brine Shrimp, and organic Spirulina from Amazon. My plan is to grind them into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle and feed the fries once they are ready... But I'm afraid of making a mistake and killing my fries...

Should I move the fries into another temporary container as there is a thick layer of gravel in the 10gal which will make maintenance difficult? What food or combination of foods will benefit the fries the most? Please help me out :') Even though I never expected them to show up in the tank but they are super cute and I really want to keep them alive!

Well, if they are large enough to be out swimming around, they’ve obviously been eating. That’s a plus.

I’m a lazy fish keeper, so I use 2-3” of leaf litter to provide structure and safety for fry. As an added bonus, the leaves grow more than enough food to feed the fry. Once they are large/brave enough to emerge from the leaf litter, they are generally large enough to go on the bbs diet

 

Well, if they are large enough to be out swimming around, they’ve obviously been eating. That’s a plus.

I’m a lazy fish keeper, so I use 2-3” of leaf litter to provide structure and safety for fry. As an added bonus, the leaves grow more than enough food to feed the fry. Once they are large/brave enough to emerge from the leaf litter, they are generally large enough to go on the bbs diet

I watched someone's video about breeding WCMM, the fries grew big enough to eat bbs on Day 13. I don't want them to starve before that. I do have plenty of algae growing on the tank wall and on the plants, not sure if algae are enough to keep them alive and growing.

 

Look after the adults and you will have more fry to learn with.

A two month old tank is unlikely to have much in the way of natural infusorea but every little bit helps.



Any old ornaments, leaf litter , wood, or even gravel will have the algae and bio film on it that can be those first meals.
A 5 gallon tank can be used to raise a handful of fry even without a cycled filter if you continuously change a little water often/ most days. As you have already moved the adults out that’s ok to.
By chance you don’t happen to have a bucket of old water outside that’s turned to green water? That can be used as food or as a whole tank of food when brought up to the correct temperature .
I know it seems wrong but I have dropped tiny fry into green water without any accilimation.

 

Look after the adults and you will have more fry to learn with.

A two month old tank is unlikely to have much in the way of natural infusorea but every little bit helps.



Any old ornaments, leaf litter , wood, or even gravel will have the algae and bio film on it that can be those first meals.
A 5 gallon tank can be used to raise a handful of fry even without a cycled filter if you continuously change a little water often/ most days. As you have already moved the adults out that’s ok to.
By chance you don’t happen to have a bucket of old water outside that’s turned to green water? That can be used as food or as a whole tank of food when brought up to the correct temperature .
I know it seems wrong but I have dropped tiny fry into green water without any accilimation.

Thanks for the reply! The plants and glass walls of the tank are covered in some slimy algae. If they can eat algae as first meal then it’s a big relief for me . My dad keeps some buckets of rainwater in the yard to water the plants. Will it be too dirty for the babies? I see dead insects and mosquito larvae in there.