crap...

[LuBear]

This morning I found little baby "guppies" in my 5 gallon tank without even knowing that mating had been involved. It took me by complete surprise... I started feeding these "guppies" with finely grinded flakes, but they did not eat it. After researching, I accidentally found pictures of betta fries and holy crap... they were identical to my guppies. This took me by surprise because I did not have a female, my male was long seperated from the five gallon and boom! I have betta fries in a five gallon, with no bubble nest or comfirmed father at all. I have no idea on how I'm gonna raise them and I don't have the heart to kill them. I NEED HELP!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Wait, what?

Baby bettas just 'showed up' in your five gallon? I'm a little confused, but it's late, maybe I'm not reading this right. What was in the five gallon before? And no female?

Either they're not baby bettas or we have Jesus bettas only this time with a Virgin Daddy.....

 

[LuBear]

I don't know either. The LFS had some mating bettas... and I had some new guppies in the tank for a bit... before I moved them to the 4.9... Could the babes had come with the guppies as eggs? Well... wat ever the problem is... I need to figure out what to do!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Well I'm guessing guppies then, you'd be surprised how well they can hide, I've had thirty of them in a ten gallon for three days before I noticed once....

 

[Kiarra]

This is impossible. It would have to be.

Betta babies are SO tiny, and so frail they wouldn't have survived the trip. They would have to be Guppies.

 

[LuBear]

I so hope that you're right... well... do I just keep feeding them finely grinded flakes? And also, I'm noticing that the fries are sticking to the glass walls of the tank... like betta fries stick to the bubble nests... they come off the wall occasionally for a little bit of swimming. But I guess they are guppies because they are free swimming sometimes..

 

[Kiarra]

How big are they? Betta fry at that stage should be 1-2 millimeters.

And I simply CANNOT imagine them surviving anything so traumatic. They are just so frail. The slightest thing kills them.

If they ARE Betta fry (and I can't imagine a situation in which they could be, they'd be dead if they were!), and they ARE 1-2 millimeters in length, then you can't feed them ground up flake food. They wouldn't be able to eat it...much too big...and they wouldn't eat it even if they were big enough to do so. They would HAVE to have something tiny like microworms, rotifers, or even live or frozen BBS.

 

[LuBear]

I think that they are guppies... hopefully... I'm going to my LFS tomorrow as soon as possible...

 

[NinjaSmurf]

They might not even be fry, they could be some weird bug or water thingy (can't think lol)

Just keep an eye on them and see what happens...

 

[Kiarra]

If they are free-swimming Betta fry, they'll be dead without food, and your problem will be solved on its own.

If they are Guppy fry, then it's too soon for them to be wanting to eat if they've been born in the last day, and they'll take the ground up flake readily when they're ready.

What's the temp in that tank? If it's under 80, and they're Betta fry, they'll probably die. If it's drastically under 80, and they're Betta fry, and they aren't dead, you'll probably want to kill them yourself...for their own good. If they're Guppy fry as I believe they HAVE to be, then they'll be fine as low as room temp, as long as it's fairly stable (no drastic fluctuations).

 

[LuBear]

better discription:
two 1mm diameter eyes
one 1mm diameter stomuck
2 mm tale...
about 2.1 mm long...
nearly transparent...
faint horizontal lines...
could see white part and pupil of eye
colorless
free swimming occasionally
sticks to the wall of tank and plant's leaves
not eating finelly grinded(smaller than a grain of sand) flakes

Aquarium:
5 gallon
Daily 20% Change
Running filter with net around mouth to prevent fries from being sucked in
2 artificial plants
gravel
no bubble nests
one marble structure
running light

I don't have water chemical testers so I have no info on the water for you

 

[Kiarra]

Betta fry typically have bright yellow eyes. ALL of mine have. And when they first hatch, they (honestly!) look like TINY little mammal sperms with eyes. I affectionately call them my spermlets during that stage.

This is incredibly strange.

Betta fry after hatching, during the early free-swimming stage, will often stick the glass. They do not have horizontal lines during this stage, and they are 1-2 millimeters AT THE ABSOLUTE LARGEST at this stage. But they would not survive switching tanks, never mind the temperature fluctuations, nor would they survive being in a tank with larger fish of any sort, as they would quickly and easily be eaten.

Guppy fry are typically about the size you mention or larger, but they don't have horizontal lines on them. Nor do they stick to the glass. (None of the batches I've had have EVER stuck to the glass)

 

[LuBear]

well... I guess since both of them feeds on pretty much the same things... I'm just gonna have to wait and see... I'm gonna be feeding them egg yolk paste right now seeing as I never had time to buy microworms...

 

[LuBear]

UPDATE: The lines were an illusion with the glass... I think that they are bettas... even though I have no vlue how they got there... my camera can't pick up there shape so I can't really give you guys a pic...

 

[LuBear]

more stuff coming... most of them prefer the artificial plants more than the glass... and yes... there is a horizontal line... which is the spine...