Setting Up Fry Tank

[Chris206]

Hi

I have just brought a sponge filter for my fry tank. I forgot to ask if the tank needed to be matured before adding fry.

The instructions say only to soak in aquarium water for 5 mins, then add to tank.

Thoughts please

 

[chelbel]

Ooo I'd be interested in this too

 

[EricaInPurple]

for any fish it's better to put them in a cycled tank I would imagine... the fry being so small they would be more vulnerable to the ammonia spikes as the new tank is cycled. Just dipping a filter sponge in tank water isn't going to add the right amount of bacteria to your water I wouldn't think, since the bacteria is mostly found in filter media and gravel. It would be better to use filter media from your established tank in the filter of your new tank as this will speed up the cycling process.

Personally I would cycle the tank first.. I keep my fry in a breeder net inside the main tank until they are large enough to survive on their own why not try that until you have your fry tank cycled properly?

 

[Harlequins]

I have fry and i did attempt to put them in my 30l tank,near the end of the fishless cycle,but the nitrites weren't steady enough so i returned them back to the breeding trap,
My fry tank has a sponge filter and it says on mine the sponge bio filter needs to be cycled before hand which takes around 4 weeks,well its been in there 5 weeks and still hasn't fully cycled,if you put the fry in now they probably won't survive has they're very sensitive,so it was a choice of lots of water changes or putting them back into the cycled tank so i choose the latter!

So it does need to be cycled,do you have your sponge driven by an airpump?

 

[Chris206]

Thanks for your posts,

The instructions say nothing about cycling the tank first, just the 5 mins and filling the tank with 1/2 aquarium water and 1/2 tap water.

The filter will be driven by an airpump.