10 gallon Fry Tank

well I set this back up (was the setup from my 10g Discus Breeder thread) to use for the next batch of eggs that the breeding pair decide to lay.
I've given mom & dad multiple chances to raise them on their own...and this last time they allowed them to get to the free swimming point and then during the night decided to eat them all.

Tank is being setup as a barebottom...equipment pretty much the same:
[*]TANK Standard 10 gallon Aqueon tank ( 20" x 10" x 12")
[*]CANOPY Aqueon Black Plastic canopy
[*]LIGHTING Aqueon 18" T8 15w 8,000K Bulb for lighting & 1 Watt Coralife Lunar that will come on during the night when the canopy lighting goes out.
[*]THERMOMETER Digital Stick On thermometer (which will be removed once I get a chance) & a Tom Temp Alert $13.49
[*]HEATER Rena 300W Smart Heater $19.98 @ Petsmart
[*]FILTER Hydro-Sponge 2 Filter rated for aquariums up to 20 gallons (using 2 way gang valve to split the air coming out of the whisper 10-30 so it will power both this sponge filter & the one in the 20L)
[*]AIR STONE is a Rena Air that's roughly 4"
[*]AIR PUMP is a whisper 30-60 which is being upgraded to a Rena Air 400 with 2 Red Sea Check Valves.
[*]BREEDER net is hung inside for the fry so they'll have a easier time finding the food
[*]BACKGROUND Pink Plastic Party Tablecloth from Wal-Mart $1.50
[*]BOTTOM (covering to avoid peppering) Pink Plastic Party Tablecloth from Wal-mart $1.50

-->Upgrading the air pump from a whisper 30-60 to a Rena Air 400 so that I can use it to run both the 20L spongefilter & this 10g spongefilter and airstone which will be placed near the eggs on low.

-->Also ordered a Tom Temperature Alert to monitor the waters temperature & a bottle of Kordon Malachite Green (still unsure which I'll dose the tank with once eggs are added...Malachite Green or Methylene Blue).

 

well tonight I swiped one of the 1W Coralife Lunar Lights off the 90g (it had 2 on it & I read that a low watt night light should be kept on when the main light goes out so they'll be able to find their food), bought a Breeder Net and hung it inside the tank already (so the fry will have an easier time getting to their food), and grabbed 2 packs of something I hadn't seen in my lfs before- Frozen Decapsulated Baby Brine Shrimp in smaller cubes to stick in the freezer in anticipation

If they make it this time I'll more than likely be feeding the Frozen Decapsulated Brine Shrimp, Hikari First Bites Fry Food, and quite possibly some powdered New Life Spectrum Flake mixed with some powdered Spirulina Flake.

 

just a quick update, ended up removing the breeder net (was confident that enough food was staying in it for the fry since it was soo fine). The babies are happily swimming about but I can defin. notice a size difference between the ones in here and the ones in the 20g that were left with the parents.
These ones are a hare tinier imo.

Oh well, we'll just see how it goes...partials should be later today but with asthma flaring It may be pushed off to tomorrow.
Really worried about siphoning the tank and sucking these lil ones up..Think I'll just take a pitcher and pull some water from the top (25% or so) and replace it back with a pitcher (that way no risk of removing the lil ones).

 

todays photo's of the tank setup and a pict of a fry swimming across the bottom (warning, their super tiny).
the tiny grainy stuff you can see on the bottom is the baby decapsulated brine shrimp

 

since the babies weren't growing well and were transferred back with mom and dad the kiddo decided that the betta would make this tank home until it was needed for babies or whatever

oh, and the plastic plants are being held down by airline suction cups (on the bottom of them)

 

quick photo

 

Betta moved back to the 90g because the mom was caught eating one and when I checked the tank (20L) this morning several babies were mia.

Remaining babies (maybe 10 or fewer) are in here now. Did a 50% partial to stimulate both their growth and appetite and fed them a cube of frozen artemia...1 is already actively eating it, the others look a bit leary yet.

 

Forgot to mention the babies that are left are moreso the "smaller" ones with only maybe 2-3 of the larger ones....and just was able to do a count as they are staying huddled in the one corner..it looks like we only have 9 left

 

We're down to 5 babies in the tank...the smaller ones didn't make it (they were having stability issues and then faded out). The 5 that are somewhat bigger appear to be doing well-actively swimming about (but preferring the back right corner near the sponge filter) and "pecking" frozen decap. brine shrimp off the bottom of the tank....still adding artemia (powdered) & Hikari (fry food) just to be extra safe.

Hopefully these will pull through (I didn't honestly have much hope for the smaller fry).

 

Fry Shots.
the smaller one probably won't make it since the others that were about that size didn't.
the larger one (sorry, couldn't get a good shot) ...are the ones that are eating well and starting to show a bit of features.

Should be able to click on picture and view it larger/zoomed a bit more

 

Well it looks like we ended up with 2 babies outta the batch. The two in their are just a wee bit smaller than a persons pinky fingernail, but are actively eating and love that back right hand corner where they can barely be seen

I warmed their water up a bit to a cozy 88F and their still being fed the frozen decapsulated Baby brine shrimp and Azoo's powdered 9 in 1 artificial artemia...I also have some frozen artemia which they'll be getting in the future too.

 

I hope so Buzz, and it's about time we get some updated picts of yours!

 

Completely understand, whenever you get a chance Buzz.

 

ignore the photo date, it's actually from today (8-26-10)

you can see massive growth comparison (8-20 & 8-26)...these lil guys are growing

 

yea, you can see how quickly they grew in a week (photo comparison). I was reallly shocked!

 

today's photos of the duo.