How often should i clean my fry tank?

[Steven Ferraro]

I have Appistogrammas orange flash male and a golden phase female. There always laying eggs . and they successfully hatch. They we about a month old moved them from a breeder net to there own tank with a sponge filter and i even used the water from the parents tank. Had them in the tank for a bout a 2 weeks juat did a quarter water change cause its a 1gal tank. I had 20 free swimming fry 3 days ago now one? All my levels are good i have micro organisms growing have hidinv spots. What did i do wrong.

 

[Mike Wise]

My guess is too many fish for such a small tank. Since I don't know which 'levels' you're talking about (water values? water quality?) I can't say what the exact problem is. Remember the old aquarium rule: 1" of fish/gallon of water (0.5 cm/l)? Well this might not work well for rapidly growing fish - especially if being fed heavily. They are putting out a lot of waste compared to adult fish. If you plan to use the tank again I'd suggest water changes of 25% at least every other day and only keep 5-10 fry <¼"/0.6cm.

 

[gerald]

Plants would help too, for keeping ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels low. Guppy-grass (Najas) is my favorite for grow-out tanks because it grows fast (= high ammonia uptake), provides structure for fish to escape from each other, and is easy to lift out when you need to catch fish. Also it tolerates soft low-pH water pretty well. It's notoriously easy to screw up water quality in small tanks (less than 5 gallons) especially with the frequent feedings needed to keep fry growing. Once the fish get sick, fixing the water quality problem doesn't always cure the disease.

 

[Steven Ferraro]

The fry are smaller then rice and my adulta are in a 20long just them. my ammonia nitrates all that is good. I did a 25% change and that when i lost them. I dont wana do live plants cause of snails. I just got over a huge battle wit snails in my angels tank. The fry were doing great then out of no where

 

[TK27]

I keep about 30 to 40 fry in a 120 liter tank (something like 30-35 gallons I guess). its a separated tank, so i can keep multiple generations. I just move the fry that survive in my community tank, and grow them up in the 120l tank. I get about 10 fry from each batch. About your problem, I think its also the size of the tank. These little fish do eat a lot, poop a lot. I clean my tank every week. The bottom of the tank is already nasty and full of crap within a week. I do a 1/3 water change every week.
Also, I keep plant in my grow out tank. I had some problems with string algae and right now im winning the battle against snails. I put some assassin snails in there, they seem to do their job fine, with a little help of catching some by hand.

 

[Steven Ferraro]

Thanks im new to apisto breeding. Ill def up size my tank for next batch. I have a 20long im not using. Should i use substrate or leave bare Should i leave them in the tank with parents next time? I read they do take care of there young. But should i remove the male.

 

[TK27]

Substrate or bare is up to you. I don't know what your plans are. I'm just doing it for fun, so I used substrate, plants and wood. You could move the parents if you want more fry to survive. They take care of the fry for some time. My cacatuoides female guards the fry for about 3 weeks. Then they are on their own. Then I catch them, if I find them. The female and male can attack them at this time. My pair is really friendly but not all the fish are the same. I also have a male who attacks every fish it sees.

 

[gerald]

If they died soon after a water change, it sounds like there might have been a problem with the replacement water. I always aerate new water in a plastic barrel for a day or more before adding it to tanks with fish, so the dechlorinator gets thoroughly mixed in and gases can equilibrate with air.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Should i use substrate or leave bare.

You definitely want sand as a substrate, it can be a thin layer.

I dont wana do live plants cause of snails.

A substrate and live plants both help with maintaining water quality. They can be floating plants (Amazon Frogbit is ideal).

cheers Darrel