how do i keep fry alive

[rhopalocera]

i am fairly new to owning an aquarium and have a community tank.
this arvo i discovered a very small fish hiding above the heater, i have separated the fish from the tank so that the other fish are no longer a threat
i also have no clue who the mother is or the breed of the fish at this stage
i wouldve liked to keep the mother and fry together

i am just unsure on how to care properly for the new fish
and what i should do to keep the little one alive

 

[Essjay]

What fish do you have in the tank? And how big is the fry? If it is fairly large - I mean more than just a pair of eyes attached to a tiny body - you can finely crush up some flake and feed that. You don't say what the fry is currently in, but if it is a small container or fry net it can't be kept there for long as this will restrict its growth. The best way to deal with fry is to have a separate nursery tank, but this does mean setting up another tank, something most of us can't do or haven't got room for.

Mother and baby fish have no bonding as we know it. The mother is just as likely to eat fry as the other fish in the tank are. If you want to save fry from being eaten they must be separated from the mother as well.

 

[rhopalocera]

its a small tank, 80l, with neon tetras, guppies, mollies, penguin tetras and thayeria
i currently have the fry in a container in the top of the tank. its very cold where i live and i dont have a 2nd heater so this was the only way i could think of maintaining the proper temperature for the fry nor am i able to set up a proper nursery tank filter and all.

the fry is very small and the container is about the same size as a standard take-away container. id say the fry is around 1cm long so the container at this point i hope is not going to restrict its growth

 

[Essjay]

It is most likely to be a molly or a guppy fry. The chances of eggs surviving long enough to hatch with a lot of fish in the tank are quite small, whereas livebearer fry are quite large when they are born and can often manage to escape being eaten. There would have been more fry, so this one is lucky to have made it.
Fry grow quite quickly so you should soon be able to tell what it is. As soon as it is big enough to avoid being eaten, releaseit into the tank.

At 1 cm long, crushed up food of whatever you feed the adult fish should be OK.

 

[Retired Viking]

When I use to breed fish they had a breeding tank the attached to the inside of the regular tank so you could leave the fry in there, not sure if they still make them. I currently have 2 tetra fry in my 55 gallon thank. They survive because I have plenty of hiding places-my fry like to hide under the moss balls. I heard jave moss is also good for them to hide in and have some of the it the tank too. I crush up the fish food so it like dust and try and drop it near the moss balls.