Gravel laying

[Cstratton7]

When i put gravel in my tank i made the mistake of putting large and small gravel in, therefore making small cavities where the baby fry try to hide and eventually get stuck and die. One of my black mollies had babies (10 or so). i got worried becuase i couldn't find them so i figured i'd do a tank cleaning and find them and separate them from the others. I found 4 literally burried alive, 2 barely hanging in and 4 very happy ones. I put the six living ones in a one gallon until i got a tank divider. 2 of the six died before i got the the divider. I put the divider in along with the four babies, and on the left side of the divider and (same gravel as before...I'm not to worried about it since it's my sisters tank and she didn't cycle it at all. I told her that the fish would probably die anyway.) Now i am only able to find two of them. I'm not sure but the other two probably went in the rocks again and got stuck . I'll make sure to use lots of plants for them to hide in when i get fish for my tank that is circulating now. I figured i'd keep the gravel amounts thin and have more plants instead. If anyone else has suggestions all are welcome.

 

[haaris]

I dont use gravel i find no use in it.
Without gravel waste dosent settle doun
and its easier to find fish and fry.
I just put some shells and a few bright rocks.
fortunately i found a stone with a hole right
through it so my live plant plants are hold doun
by it.

 

[guppymonkey]

To stop adventuresome (or stupid) fry from hiding in the gravel you should probably just get small gravel. Or you could use marbles instead of gravel as the spaces between them are large enough for the fry to get out. Sometimes having a lot of plants to hide in will help also.