Surprise Rainbow Fry In Quarantine Tank! No Clue What To Do!

[TheDojoMojo]

Hey so I have never actually successfully raised fry before. Today the craziest thing happened though!!! About two months ago I bought some boesmanI rainbowfish about 2 months ago for my 55 gal and quickly bought and put together a 10 gal QT to medicate them before introducing them to my 55. They were in there for about 2 weeks. After that, they were transferred; I turned off the lights, filter, and air pump; and it remained completely off for a month and a half. I never fead the tank or did a water change I only left a little waste and algae in there. Well today, I looked into the tank and realized a whole lot has been slipping under my radar. I thought I saw something dart around in it when I walked past it so I looked a little closer there was a single tiny fish. I looked it up and it is boesmanI rainbowfish fry! There was for some reason no others except the one. So as of now the adults are in the 55 with some dojo loaches, the other rainbows, some honey gouramis, kribensis, and otos. The baby is in the QT still. I know I prob can't leave it in there much longer as the rest of the fry probably already died off and this is the last survivor. I also know I can't put it in the 55 bc its like a 6th of an inch long and the other fish will eat it. It will be a lot of work to fix the QT back up to livability again and hope to not do that but will if I have too. I have seen on the internet of a fry trap where I can keep it in a cage or something to contain the fry from the adult fish. Where would you guys keep it in my case? Also, Ive never raised fry before and don't know what to feed or how to care for them. How would I take care of it? Thanks guys.

 

[kallililly1973]

Congrats on the fry. Lower the water level and use a turkey baster to suck em up then float a breeder net in your 55 and feed it till it gets to about an inch then it should be safe to release to the main tank.

 

[TheDojoMojo]

Congrats on the fry. Lower the water level and use a turkey baster to suck em up then float a breeder net in your 55 and feed it till it gets to about an inch then it should be safe to release to the main tank.

That sounds like it will work. How do I go about feeding it? Do I need to buy a fry food or will it pick apart a shrimp pellet or bloodworm or something?

 

[kallililly1973]

That sounds like it will work. How do I go about feeding it? Do I need to buy a fry food or will it pick apart a shrimp pellet or bloodworm or something?

You can get a packet of hirakI first bites or take a piece of flake food and crumble it super fine and sprinkle a bit in the net area. Also another great fry food is a hard boiled egg yoke. Take a toothpick and stick the tip into the yoke and dip it into the water. Great protein. Your other fish will most likely enjoy the yoke as well. Use it sparingly so it doesn't cloud the water.

 

[86 ssinit]

Nice and congrats. I have done and am doing the same thing now. My boesmanI drop eggs in my hornwort and when I move the hornwort to my plant tank or shrimp tank weeks later I have found fry. First time I had no clue where it came from. Also they are the slowest growing fry I’ve ever had. First one took almost a 6 month to figure out what it was. Feeding first bites and crushed flakes. In my plant tank now I have one that’s about a half inch and one that’s about an 1/8”. Good luck with your fry .

 

[TheDojoMojo]

Thanks all! I hope it grows up. I bought a breeder net that I put in the 55 and some first bites for it and put some spare anacharis in the breeder net. I'm still amazed how it could've lived through the QT for so long... could it have eaten copepods on the glass or maybe the waste on the bottom of the tank?