White/gold Minnow Fry

HI everyone. I am just after some advice and I was wondering if any of you lovely people could help me.
I have a 55 gallon tank fully cycled and I have 2 gold clouds (male and female) and 2 white clouds (male and female). They currently sharing a tank with 2 assassin snails. I was waiting to put my blackmoor in it too but with the hot weather I have left him where he is at the minute as the tank he is in is cooler at the minute.

Anyway I have just noticed I have a tiny fry one looks see through and the other looks black like a little tadpole lol they are in a different part to the main tank. Its where a massive filter should go but its full of water because I have a different filter in the main part. I have only noticed them tonight so they haven't been fed or anything as I don't check that part. I only noticed because I was looking to see if there were and bladder snails are about for my assassin snails. Do I leave them in that part or do I move them to the main part of the tank? The filter is not in that part at all so the water isn't filtered like it is in my main tank. I haven't a clue how old they are at all. Ive never had fry before!! Arghhh lol I'm panicking a bit now lol

 

I would probably leave them where they are for now. If you put them into the main tank the water flow could be too much or they could get sucked up in the intake. If they're more than a week past free swimming then they are eating something! I managed to raise a single panda corydoras without knowing about him until he was plenty big enough not to be eaten by the other community fish in the tank! That was pure luck and nothing short of miraculous considering the circumstances...lol. Once you feel they are strong enough to handle the flow from the filter and intake move them over. Good luck!

 

One is quite fast at swimming and about a cm the other is still a bit slow and is half the size. I think they might be different ages. I haven't a clue what theyve been eating only thing it could be is a bit of snail poop and I doubt that yuck lol I'm going to get some fry food tomorrow. They can get through to the main tank if they want as there is tiny holes they can fit through. What do I do about the water in there? Its about a metre tall and id say 15cm squared so not a mass amount of space. They seem to be surviving like you said though but its not filtered. Looks like my blackmoor will have to stay where he is for now lol hes in a 15 gallon but hes only about 4 months and about 4cm so luckily he will be fine for now I hope lol

 

With the feeding be VERY stingy with the amount. When they're tiny like that they are most likely eating microscopic things that you can't see anyway. I raised a batch of zebra danios and had started a batch of infusoria. There was nothing in the jar that I could SEE, but I raised about 100 babies on clear water I kept adding to their tank several times a day. Every time I did it I felt like I was just adding water with a pipette, but there was obviously food for them in that water. From my understanding, there is a natural occurrence of infusoria in aquariums...just not in high quantity because of our water changes and regular maintenance. Surprise fry and juveniles show up in aquariums all the time, so there is a natural occurring food of some sort present, and your little guys are obviously getting food on their own. I'm not real sure about where they actually are in your tank but if they can come and go through holes that connect to the main part of the tank then that's probably the secret to their survival! I'd be afraid to change anything at this point. When you think they're big enough to handle the main tank move them on over.

 

Ok thank you so much for your help. I had a look at them this morning and one had got through to the main tank and the adult minnows werent bothered about him/her. It was hiding at the top underneath some plants and took me half hour to find. I moved him back to where it was as it was near the filter and moved the plant with him. I think if he goes in again I'm going to leave him and just keep a very close eye on him. The other hasnt moved from where he is yet so I think the little guy is happy where he is for now lol thank you so much for your help!

 

Putting the plant in there is a great idea. If they get back into the main tank and you're worried about the filter you can put a sponge or filter pad around it until they're big enough.

 

Ok thank you I will try that next time and see how they go

 

I can't find the gold fry any where now so maybe its really hiding. Its so hard to see as it is. The little white cloud is still in the same place. Just so you get a better idea of where it is I have put some pics with this.

 

I see. I thought you were talking about a built-in overflow. I've never raised minnows before but I'd say you're at least halfway there! Looks big enough to feed. Just take some food you feed the others and grind it as small as you can. I bought a little bag of HikarI fry food and I still have probably 2/3 of it left over. And I raised about 100 zebra danios with it! Put just a teeny amount in there a couple times a day. I would take a cup or something and pour some "fresh" tank water in a couple times a day just for peace of mind. With 1 tiny minnow in there it's basically zero bio load. But once you start dropping food in there it might kind of yucky. If he doesn't make his own way out of the over flow in the next week or so it would probably be safe to move him out since you have plants for him to hide in and feed from. Congratulations on the new ones!

 

Ok thank you. I'm going to try and clean the sand that's at the bottom as its a bit yucky from the baby bladder snails that are hiding in there too. I can't find the gold minnow so I'm thinking he hasnt either survived in the big tank or hes unfortunately been eaten or really great at hiding lol I'm hoping the other stays put for a bit longer to give him the best chance. I put a tiny amount of crushed flake food in last night and he went no where near it so I will keep trying. Thank you for all your help. Fingers crossed he makes it as I have plenty of space for him once he grows