View Full Version : Month old fry are dying after switch to new tank!
mgood86
05-06-2007, 10:59 AM
Will the switch to a new tank stress fry out and start dying? New tank water parameters are: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, ph 7.6, temp 81
These parameters are the same as the tank they are coming from. Nothing is different. Except maybe the current. The 10 gallon tank has a lot of bubble action (which I just cut down for a while) and a strong filter current. The other tank is a 37 tall with more calmer currents where they came from. Could the current in the new tank be too much for them? The stress of the transfer?
Thanks in advance.
Marlene
kw0me
05-06-2007, 11:46 AM
i'm still a n00b with this but if it was stress after a day or 2 the ones left alive would stay alive. Also with fry i found doing daily water changes will make them grow faster and not get sick. i could be wrong tho.
nickmcmechan
05-06-2007, 4:22 PM
Please xplain in detail the acclimation process you used?
What fry are they?
Flying_Diamond
05-06-2007, 4:43 PM
How many are their? What kind of fish?
mgood86
05-06-2007, 7:36 PM
swordtail fry...21 of them.
They were in a breeding net. Using a net I herded them into a plastic bowl filled with water from their tank. This was gently put into another bowl filled with their water. This bowl was floated in the new tank. The new tank's water was added into the bowl a little at a time (about every 30 minutes) to acclimate the fry to the new water until the bowl couldn't hold anymore water. By this point the fry were literally "jumping ship" and I slowly sank the bowl until all the fry swam out on their own.
The strange thing, I have lost two fry. They got weak or something and I couldn't catch them in time from sticking to the filter. Anyway, the current in the tank was strong and you could see them really swimming fast. I kept looking and I would find some that would just start to float and like give up or something. SO I netted them in to a bowl of water from that tank and they came back to be fine and so I put them back into the breeding net. They are doing totally fine now. I have nine in the net and the other ten are in the other tank. It's all strange to me. Any ideas? Current was slowed down by toning down the speed of bubbles and adjusting a cave in the tank to face the current which broke it up a bit I guess. I don't know. I tried.
Flying_Diamond
05-06-2007, 9:09 PM
I don't really understand what you're saying, but that could be because I am tired as well. It kinda sounds like you have really small fry that are getting sucked into the filter, because it's sucking to strongly, which would effect the current. (the stronger it sucks, the more current) Do you have a nob that can control the current/suction? Are the fish being sucked up, or is something else happening?
mgood86
05-06-2007, 9:20 PM
that's ok I don't understand myself either. I guess I am trying to find out if fry are adversely affected by a strong current & if they need calmer waters to live in. Yes they are getting sucked into the filter. No I don't have a knob to control the suction, therefore, how can I stop my fry from being sucked into it but yet still allow the filter to do it's job. Sorry, I am having a bad last 1 1/2 weeks. My step mom has just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer that has spread to her bones so I may not be talking (writing) very coherently right now. Thanks for your patience.
nickmcmechan
05-07-2007, 4:00 AM
what sort of filter are you using?
an internal filter needs panty hose over it to stop it sucking up fry
mgood86
05-07-2007, 7:20 AM
ok thanks...
the filter is a Whisper 5-15.
I will get a pair panty hose and find a way to attach it to the filter pipe. Never thought of that.
I just transfered some Molly fry to a new tank and everything was fine until I got up the next day and saw 6 fish stuck in the filter. I zip tied a stocking toe over the end of the intube and everything is fine now.
As long as the fry have a calm part of the tank to hang out in at the top and bottom and you either put a sponge or stocking or media bag over the intake they should do OK.
Q
KateCB
05-07-2007, 8:58 AM
if you can't find a good way of attacking a pantyhose to the filter, your LFS will have some sponge tubes that fit over the end - doesn't stop the filter doing its job, but is too fine for the fry to get through. You may find that when you clean the filter itself you have fry in there - I had 6 on my cannister filter last week - no idea what they are though!
Flying_Diamond
05-07-2007, 3:07 PM
Usually using a rubber band and some pantyhose will do the trick, that's what I do for my fish tanks.