thedragonslayer
Mostly New Member
I set up my 30 gallon tank with new black top gravel, some select rocks and a nice heavy old root structure I have had for years. I last had fish in 1979 and got started when I was 7 in 1967. I started with guppies and by 1979 had goldfish and was exploring the idea of different tropical fish, but ended up moving away from home and found I was too busy to have fish. I got a 30 gallon tank for free a few years ago and a 22 gallon for free a few months ago and when I saw an ad for a tank with baby fish, I took the chance. The owner had no idea what the baby fish were, the mother had died and all she was left with was a 10 gallon tank filled with fry. Those fry are now approaching 5/8 of an inch and I have had them for 11 days now. I think some are 2 + weeks old and the smallest are 12 days old. I counted 176 of them as I returned them to their tank when I brought them home. Most if not all of them have survived and I have spent a journey on the internet researching different fish to see what these fry are from. I have narrowed it down to Barbs through comparing physical features of the fry, such as a lack of an adipose fin, the shape of the tail and the shape of the dorsal fin. They seem very hardy, the tank they were in, 10 gallons, was very smelly and dirty when I got it, I kept most of the water when I restored them to their tank and have been doing regular water changes and started exchanging the water between their tank and the 30 gallon tank. Yesterday I finished setting up the 30 in its permanent location, with plants, wood and rocks. It has a power filter that has been going for 11 days now and a bubbler. How long do I need to wait to add a few of the largest fry? It will be nice to see fish in the large tank. Some of the largest fry are getting dark edges to their dorsal fins and tail fins and a hint of dark at the base of the tail body. I am hoping they are rosy barbs or cherry barbs.