Fry Tank Heat

[stucolls]

Hi, I know I have posted alot re my Fry tank,
My lfs and people on here have said I wont need a heater for my fry tank at this time of year, but after filling it yesterday its only 23 degress? is that ok?

 

[Spooky76]

24 is fine 24-26 is about right.

I would get s small 50W heater or smaller. Problem is that the temperature will fluctuate which will stress the fish. The heater will if nothing else remove the temp troughs. Even on lowest, it wont be on much, but would stop any temp drops.

 

[stucolls]

Ok so here is what I have had to do.......

My fry tank had been set up overnight with untreated tap water, 2 bactozyme tablets (even if useless) and an air pump.

This morning I syphones out 50% of the water, added dechlorinator to what was left and added 50% water from my main tank.
I also added a few handfuls of substrate, a piece of broken plant pot (for hiding) and a plastic plant.

I then noticed a small baby in the main tank (not in the breeding trap like the others) so I quickly put my fry into to the fry tank and put the pregnant molly in the breeding trap.......

since then I have discovered the baby in main tank is an escapee, the pregnant molly has not dropped yet(and has been release) so I rushed the fry into their tank without the need too.

Im not too worried after speaking to davidtq last night he assures me as long as the fry are not stressed they will be fine.

BUT

My box filter arrived from ebay today minus the vital carbon and filter wool, just an empty box...... my own fault really, so the fry tank is still unfiltered.....

any tips to help them out before I can get to my lfs later on

 

[Spooky76]

Sounds good.

Always treat water before adding to your tank, but putting water from your mature tank was a good move

You dont need the carbon filter. As long as you have filter media in it thats fine. Usually a fry filter is just sponge, is this the case with yours ? Is there a reason you need the carbon filter ? What filter is it you have ?

With Fry it will take ages for the ammonia levels to get high, but keep monitoring it. My 36 litre tank took 2 weeks to get any ammonia with 37 baby guppies in.

This is true, they will be fine if not stressed, but chlorine in the tank isnt good for your good bacteria. And the better the water, the healthier your fish will be.

Youve done the right thing decorating the tank also.

 

[stucolls]

No reason specific for the carbon, I literally ordered a small box filter on ebay for £4 and it turned up, literally just an empty box lol so what would you suggest putting into the box? some gravel from main tank at the bottom with a sponge ontop?

I did dechlor before adding it really as it was empty until last night when I filled it up, so not only did it have pretty much 24 hours to stand as normal tap water, I added an air stone to speed up chlorine breakdown then this morning removed half the untreated water, treated the other half, then filled it with main tank water so hopefully there will not be any chlorine in it, however, the main tank water was a bit murky seeing as it hadnt been changed for a few days due to having no tap safe so when should I do a small water change in fry ank?

 

[Davidtq]

Sounds good.

Always treat water before adding to your tank, but putting water from your mature tank was a good move

You dont need the carbon filter. As long as you have filter media in it thats fine. Usually a fry filter is just sponge, is this the case with yours ? Is there a reason you need the carbon filter ? What filter is it you have ?

With Fry it will take ages for the ammonia levels to get high, but keep monitoring it. My 36 litre tank took 2 weeks to get any ammonia with 37 baby guppies in.

This is true, they will be fine if not stressed, but chlorine in the tank isnt good for your good bacteria. And the better the water, the healthier your fish will be.

Youve done the right thing decorating the tank also.

Down here in Devon we still use chlorine not chloramine for our water supplies, so water left standing or aeriated will do fine without any extra chemicals, My families been keeping fish in the local tap water without water treatment chemicals for 3 generations without any problems as a result.

 

[Spooky76]

Fair enough - we have chloromine here, but how do you know when its all evaporated off ?

Put some filter wool in the filter and some substrate if you have some....you need something for the bacteria to colonise on. Do you have a make and model ?

As for when to do a water change, really not that often if its just fry in the tank if your filters working. They dont produce much waste early doors. Obvioulsy keep an eye on the ammonia and Nitrite to start with too.

I have some spare substrate if you need it. I could post you some, but you need to make sure your filter can use that. Normally a FRY FILTER is a sponge, as anything more can often suck the little bliters into the filter...

 

[stucolls]

it was just a little plastc box with an air hose attachment and an output funnel, i filled it with sub from my main tank and cotton wool, its all I had, all but 1 of my fry are dead today though (see my HELLPPP!!! posting) the one survivor is now back in main tank in breeding trap.

thanks anyway