transitioning canal-caught minnows to new aquarium set-up?

A pet specialty store like a mom and pop store or Petco or Petsmart will have better quality kits than Walmart.

Those fish will not need a heater. There is no heater in the winter outside.

You can also collect some local hornwort plants from a canal or stream if you don't want to use a breeder net or trap. The babies will hide out in the hornwort.

Andy
 
Dad picked up a Top Fin 5.5 setup from Petsmart for under $30. Here is a photo of the 5.5 setup along with the smaller critter keeper "mama fish" is in. IMG_4183.JPGThe filter is surprisingly quiet and the flow looked tame until we added fish, lol. We made a bottle baffle; I'm not sure how much it helped but there seems to be enough still water for the minnows to hang out in. We have to turn the filter off when we feed them. The plants are from the canal, and I didn't bother rinsing the rock or the krusty krabhouse so the snail would have something to eat.

The filter (Top Fin Power Filter 10) has a filter cartridge (carbon in a floss bag), and a plastic frame with a piece of very porous black foam (feels like a plasticy sponge). The foam is mentioned once in the set-up instructions, but not again in any of the very minimal maintenance instructions. It sits in front of the filter cartridge, closest to the output. Is the foam where the good bacteria is supposed to grow? Should I replace it with something better? Should I post these questions in the freshwater equipment forum instead of here? :)

I pulled a handful of what I think is hornwort out of the canal. I'm attaching two photos. In the second, close-up photo you can see a translucent bump that I'm assuming is some kind of egg, can anyone identify it? I picked through and pinched off as much as I could, which resulted in a somewhat denuded strand (I got tired and left the rest in the bucket). I put it in "mama fish's" tank to keep it separate from the main tank for now, in case I missed any eggs. Last thing I need is to breed mosquitos or some other pest inside my son's room!
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Also in the close-up you can see tiny dark bumps all along the strands of the hornwort. I can't tell if these are foreign, or actually a part of the plant (like buds on a stem). Can anyone tell me? If they are NOT part of the plant, I am throwing it back into the canal before we get infested with something!

Finally, I'm attaching a photo of another plant that grows in the shallows of the canal. I rinsed and pulled off as much black gunk as I could before adding it to the tank. I've had a (different) small clump of it floating in the critter keeper for three weeks so I figure I'm good to go with that.
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While harvesting plants yesterday we discovered the shallows teeming with tadpoles. Yet another nature study project… but I am definitely not taking those indoors!!

Thanks so much again… and again… and again. :)
 
Nice Gambusia, or mosquito fish. They are livebearers. The adults may eat the young, but some will escape depending on how much cover (plants) you ahve in the tank for them to hide in. The hornwart looks normal to me with those little dark bumps. The jelly like egg is likely snail eggs, but it is possible that it is something else. Not likely to be mosquitoes though.

The second plant may be Hemianthus micranthemoides called baby tears or pearl weed. Not positive on the id though.
 
Everybody (including me, lol) survived the first week with the Top Fin 5.5! I cleaned up the hornwort as much as possible and added it to the main tank. We also moved mama fish in with the rest. They harassed her the first day, but now they are all getting along and mama fish has her appetite back (I never saw her eat in isolation). I'm attaching a photo of the current set up.
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I'm surprised and pleased at how clear the water is. I'm keeping the tank on canal water until the babies are born so that I can throw survivors back into the canal. Then we'll begin the transition to conditioned water.

I think SnakeIce is right about the other plant being baby tears. I couldn't get it untangled so there's just a clump of it stuck in the gravel. We also have what I think is dwarf lily, and a fourth plant I haven't identified yet (tall thin one in the photo). I like that we have a little micro recreation of our canal going on for homeschool nature study purposes, but I've started reading in the planted tank forum and I'm intimidated by the prospect of keeping it up. I'll go post over there next (although it's looking kind of inactive).

Finally--I noticed a tiny clump of what appeared to be thin spores growing on the gravel, but when I pulled it out it was a spotted gelatinous blob. Bladder snail eggs? Photo attached. I tossed it in the isolation tank (also canal water) to see what happens.
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Looks good, but as a new tank it is going to need to go through a Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate cycle. This can take weeks, so you must do some (lots) of water changes till the cycle is finished. This is important for all new set-ups.
IMO--You will not need a heater.
 
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