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The other night I was cleaning and changing the water in one of my tanks. After I had refilled the tank, I thought that the filter didn't sound quite right so I opened the top to put some water directly in the filter to get it going properly (which is something I sometimes need to do).

Well, when I looked in, there were baby guppies swimming in the filter !!! There were six in all and all different sizes. One was tiny while the largest looked about a month old.

Like I said, you should have heard my daughter squeal ... with excitement !!!!

Meg's Mom,

Isn't it funny where these little buggers sometimes end up?

I have many similar experiences in my two tanks that contain Platies. Rather frequently do I find fry in the bottom of the filter. I have to say that not all of these survived when put back into the tank, I assume being forced through the impeller of the HOB did harm them but didn't kill them right away. Nevertheless, some of them are by now grown up fishies who see their offspring dissapear into that mystical tube in the tank .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Some brands of filter skimp on the intake design to cut corners (and costs). So baby fishes can end up inside the filter.

You can prevent this from happening again (and thus give your baby fishe a slightly less harrowing introduction to the world) by making a DIY fry screen for the filter intakes. Couple of pieces of clear perspex or similar plastic, a piece of mesh cut from an old, disused aquarium net (mesh size suitably chosen), spot of silicone adhesive, and if your filter is a canister filter, then hey presto, fry screen. If your filter has conical or cylindrical intakes, then you van fashion a 'mini stocking' from an old, torn aquarium net that will fit over the intake.

Of course this will need de-gunking every so often as it will act as a mechanical filter in itself, but if saving fry is an issue in an aquarium, then this DIY tip could prove useful.

Of course, the better filter brands design their intakes with this in mind, but you pay more for those.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

When my BNs were breeding it was common to find each month baby BNs in my Eheim Canister. The most unusual I found was a tomato seed which had started to germinate.
Things can be placed around the intake but beware it can reduce the water flow if it is not cleaned very regually.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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