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hey all

for the past few months ive been trying to set up a fry tank for my new baby cichlids. having set up a couple of tanks previously i thought ill do this properly i put the filter (home made box filter see url for schematic), in the comunity tank for a week to seed it with good bacteria. i put it in the new tank ensured all parameter were suitable and put the fry in afer around 3 days.

at the time
tank size- 40 g

am-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
ph-7.8
gh-4-500
temp 26

the next afternoon

am-0.25
all other parameter the same

all but one fry dead.

anyways i moved the little guy to my 10 gal
problem is its home to 3 cardinals and the ph and hardnes ar lower (7.4 and 100-150) do u think hell be ok? ive got nowhere else to put him and he'll get eaten in the community tank or sucked through any fry nets in there. (i lost 50 fry to this sucking by the bigger fish)

also can anyone sugest a way to speed up the cycle? ive put some food in there hoping it will rot and cycle that way
ive also read about fishless cycling (ie put house hold ammonia in the tank) has anyone done this? also what brand of ammonia do u use, i live in australia so if any aussies could tell me a specific brand that ed b good or anyone just some general info.
ive tryed product like cycle i think there a waste of time never work.
thamks for any advise

cheers!!!

edit http://www.mn-aquarium.org/masart40.htm

forgot url

Last edited by african_man at 31-Aug-2005 06:13

Sorry for the loss

You did good by seeding the filter with bacteria in an established tank before putting it in your fry tank, but a couple concerns-

1- a week really isn't long enough, most people consider 2 weeks the minimum for bacteria seeding, and a lot of people think that's too short.

2- when you put the filter in the new tank, there wasn't enough ammonia/fish waste to support the bacteria, so your filter was useless when the fry were put in. They should have been put in immediately to keep the bacteria on the filter going.

Fish food rot isn't the best way to cycle a tank, you're better off with the control of fishless cycling. Pure ammonia (or as pure as you can get it, sometimes only 10%) with no surfactants or dyes or fragrances is the way to go. I'm not farmiliar with aussie brands, so someone else'll have to chime in with that one.

It's more reliable, more controlled, and faster.

i cycled my 2 tanks with ammonia, its been....maybe a week for the 10 gallon, then after i added some meds for the female betta i just bred, those went for a day, then she was added, and so far everything is going great, and its been a few days, i also added a juvinile betta fry a few hours later, both r doing great (and the little one is growing fast already in 90F water

tricky one- you could try in an emergency : i'd reinforce your fry net with a pair of ladies tights works a treat! The double layer will probably stop the fry from being sucked through wash the tights well before you put em in the tankwater though.
just push the entire net into the tights , trim the top of the tights and tie em off at the top.

Your problem was not adding the fry right away. Bacteria dies within 24hrs without a food source. If you'd added a little fish food or some temporary occupants until the fry were added you probably would have been fine. You could try solid plastic breeding baskets. They can heat up under the lights and don't get as good of water movement but I don't think the fry can be sucked through those. I got one free and use it on occasion without problems.
For ammonia you want clear ammonia that doesn't foam when shaken and in the ingrediants lists only ammonia and chelating agents.

thanks for your help guys will give it a go

so upset tho:#(

anyways as we speak i think my similis might be staring another new family!

ill keep you posted