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I started another thread about how I was taking care of my local library's tank of Guppies, well today I did a water change and accidentally sucked up 4 Guppy fry and a few snails. I noticed the fry when I was dumping the water outside, and taking into consideration the fact that their tank is already over stocked I took them. Right now they are in my Betta's old 1 gallon tank with a micro-bubbler to keep the oxygen up. I don't have a heater small enough for the tank, but the hood is an incandescent so it keeps the water slightly above room temperature. I have feed them finely crushed flake food which they all ate, and was going to hatch some bbs for them soon. I plan on doing daily 100% water changes with about 80 degree dechlorinated water, is this okay or do they need a filter? Any advice would be appreciated!

I find sponge filters to be good for a fry tank as they do not produce a lot of current. Bacteria will also colonize the sponge to help keep the amonia and nitrites down. I usually do not use any substrate so I can see the waste to keep it extra clean. A 1 gal is pretty small though- it will do for now, but if you have an extra 5 or 10- would be better in the long run.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/site/aquarank.aspx

I have a 15 that I could set up,or could I just use a 5-10 gallon rubbermaid container? Would it need to be cycled first? I don't have any substrate in the tank so I can stay on top of the water parameters. Thanks for the quick reply.

Either or will work, might want to go with the tank as it'll let you see more .

Guppies are pretty hearty fish, and can withstand a fairly wide temp range, however like any fish temp swings will be an issue. With the incandecent light you run the risk of heating the water too much during the day then letting it drop overnight.

While they're still little they should be okay without a filter so long as you keep up on daily water changes. I worry about the 100% changes, that is usually never reccomended except in extreme cases of contamination (I remember a post about alchohol poisoning in fish a few years ago). If you can get ahold of a sponge filter that'd be great for them. You'll want something soon, those guys grow pretty quick!

^_^

Alright, I'm gonna try and have something better setup for them by the weekend, until then I'll just do 50% WC instead of 100%. I run the incandescent for about half an hour at a time, so the temp doesn't get too high and then drop drastically when it's off, but the room temp is about 75-78 so it should be okay.

Babelfish, do you know of anyway to make a DIY sponge filter? I've heard that it involves a powerhead and a pond sponge or something like that, I'm not sure so if you have any ideas just throw them out and I'll try it. Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know what I wind up doing.

You only need to buy a sponge filter & then connect it with an air pump. ie. connect the sponge filter pipe, instead of the air stone.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Considering the price of a sponge filter or a corner filter, doing a DIY would be more trouble and money than it's worth. Additionally you'd risk ruining the powerhead. Powerheads are designed simply to move water, not to filter and by putting a sponge over the intake or outflow you risk damage to the motor.

The beauty of air driven filters (corner and sponge) is that they are really quite cheap. They're perfect for fry tanks when you need very little water flow, and being inexpensive they're great for hospital tanks since they can be tossed out (not that I like throwing things in the trash!) or fairly easily sanitized.

If you need something now and cant get to the stores, you might try wrapping filter foam around an airstone. It'll pick up some of the waste.

^_^

I was actually gonna buy a powerhead anyways, so I figured it would be better to buy one and be able to use it as a sponge filter whenever I need it as well as using it for its usual purpose in my main tank.

When it comes to fry even the smallest powerhead will cause massive ammounts of water movement.

Not only does this toss them around but they will end up sucked into the intake.

I really wouldnt try to DIY it with the babies.

^_^

Sponge filters are only around $5 US or so. plain tank with the filter & air pump and a heater is all you need.

Oh yeah and food

http://www.fishprofiles.com/site/aquarank.aspx

Alright, I guess I'll just use a regular sponge filter then. I'm assuming I should run it with an air stone?

Not with an airstone, but with the pump you use for the air stone. Just fix the pipe with the sponge filter, instead of the air stone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Thanks, I've never bothered to see how they work before. I'll pick one up tomorrow.

I was wondering, should I cycle the 15 before I move them to it? I was thinking I could cycle it by running the sponge filter on my established 55 for a week, and then use it to cycle the 15. The fry are small now, but I don't know how long they can stay in the 1 gallon before they outgrow it.

You can fill up the 15 with tank water & then top the 55 with new water. Just like making a water change.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

can u get hold of a german made " jewel" upright filter unit, i have one in my 26gal tank, it is a black plastic upright filter unit consisting from the bottom, 1-fine and 1-course blue filters these hold the bacteria cultures, 1- green nitrate removal sponge (speaks for itself) 1-black carbon sponge which removes any metals/minerals,and finally 1-white sponge which collects any uneaten food bits of leaves ect, as the power head sucks water from the bottom up through the filter system and then back into the tank via the power head pipe, which i have a air diffuser attached which sucks air through a tube and then through the powerhead pipe creating lots of fine bubbles throughout the tank.