Preparing My Guppy Fry Tank

[Cinnebuns]

If you have seen my previous posts, you know I've been waiting almost 2 months for my first batch of fry because she aborted her first ones. I'm about 2 or so weeks away from her being due for the 2nd time. I live in a small apartment and have multiple tank syndrome so I have had to put the 5 gallon in an inconvenient place. It's sitting on the ground below my main, 29 gallon, tank.  I have a few questions regarding this setup.

 

1.  Currently the tank has gravel and some minimal decor hiding places in addition to some Java moss and a little bit of water lettuce. Would be better off going bare bottom?  I was told its easier to monitor fry health with bare bottom. One thing to consider with this is that the method I am using has the female living in the tank until she gives birth.  This decision also plays into question #2.

2.  Since the tank is sitting on the ground, how is it best to clean it?  I have a python but I'm pretty sure that won't work without gravity. I was thinking if I went bare bottom I could just use a turkey baster. Would that be sufficient?  I assume so cause I think some people use that with sand. 

3.  Just so I have a heads up, how does cleaning fry tanks compare to cleaning adult tanks?  Anything different or is it pretty much the same except for avoiding sucking the babies up?

[PineSong]

It's very exciting to be waiting for fry. I have a mom fish due in the next day or so and I'm eager to see the little guys, too.

I don't know about using a gravel vac/python on a floor level tank because I've not done it. I'll let others respond to that part.

About substrate, I have gravel in my fry tanks because it is more surface area for beneficial bacteria. Plants and beneficial bacteria are what will keep your water quality stable, so the more the better. Just for reference, I have a 10g fry tank with about 60-70 fry and a mom fish in it. I feed them 3-4x a day; it has never shown any nitrates or nitrites because it has so many plants, plus it has the matten filter as a divider, plus wood and gravel.

When I think of bare bottomed fry tanks, I think of setups like Dean's where he is growing expensive fish who might also be tricky to raise. Livebearers are going to be fine with gravel if your water is good. 

When I clean fry tanks, I put a stocking on my gravel vac so I don't suck up fry, and I am careful to not add a lot of cold water all at once when I am adding new water. If I do a big change like 50%, I will add the water back in 1/3 at a time, so there isn't a huge temp swing. I'm less careful about adding cold water with my older fry and adult fish.

Here's a pic of one half of my fry tank. I think there are many ways to raise guppy fry and a bare bottom tank is surely one of them, but this mess of gravel, algae, guppy grass, and wood also works.

[lefty o]

the more plants the better, and try not to over feed. i know we all want to see them little buggers get fed and grow up, but over feeding leads to more cleaning, which leads to more chances of sucking up or harming the babies. no reason a turkey baster couldnt work to clean a little of the gravel, and remove some water.

[Minanora]

Get a pump to pump water out. Trust me, at ground level, a fry tank... Guppies fry poo so much, and eat so much. You'll get so burned out with manual water/waste removal, every other day or so. Get an oversized filter that will fit on the tank. The more surface for bacteria the better. If you go oversized hob, get one that you can adjust the flow on. Lower flow is better, but the larger media capacity will come in handy.

Gravel is fine, but it's easier to clean a bare bottom fry tank. I have aqua aquasoil in a pot in my fry tank to home plant cuttings.

The nitrates will become a problem as they grow. They accumulate more quickly as fry age.

These are just my thoughts based on my experience. I can add lots of details as to why, but I'm long-winded.... And I figured I'd keep it brief.

[Minanora]

On a side note, you could do matten filter sponge on the bottom instead of gravel. You can even insert plants into it by cutting slits in it. It's rather genius. Haven't done it but there's a thread on here where some one is, I just can't recall who.... Poo. >.<

[Guppysnail]

One tip. Fry food fouls water quick. Use caution . Water change frequently   For being on the ground vacuuming will be tough. Bare bottom will be easier to turkey baster waste out. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Minanora]

I did just see a genius tip for moving water. A drinking water dispenser! The battery operated ones are pretty cheap and make a decent flow. You can diy some hoses for them easily and just use them like an inline pump with no cords. Well, I mean other than the water hoses 😛 I will probably be buying one and play with it if you want to watch me be the guinea pig first.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Minanora

[Cinnebuns]

@Minanora I'm having a hard time understanding what you are describing tbh. I would love to know how it works after you try it. 

[Struggle]

Is it something like what's in the video below? 

 

[Minanora]

On 1/21/2022 at 2:10 PM, Struggle said:

Is it something like what's in the video below? 

 

EXACTLY that! But I'm going to see if I can lay the thing on it's side. I don't see why I couldn't, but these things may not work like that. I also want to use it the opposite way and use it as a syphon and attach it to my small python. Youtube recommended that video to me this morning during my conference call, so that's what gave me the idea! Lol

[Cinnebuns]

@Minanora @Struggle omg ty so much!  That looks perfect for small tanks!  I had been just scooping water for water changes before because waste wasn't an issue but this would help as a way to gravel vac. That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!  Also fits the budget. Some things people were suggesting on fb would have cost more. I already have the tubing so just need the device which sounds cheap enough. 

[Minanora]

@Cinnebuns Of course. Yeah I was looking at other pump options as well, all, much more expensive and not exactly what I wanted. Probably why youtube recommended the video... If you've seen my shrimp water change setup, I'm absolutely over my current gravity fed drip changer. Now I will use that pump and do the same drip change but with a bucket at the same level as the tank. Which is WAY less sketchy than that bucket on the top of my tank. Plus now I can use a 5 gallon bucket and free up my 2.5 bucket for other water changes while the shrimp water drips... for several hours... 🙂

[Torrey]

On 1/20/2022 at 7:44 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Since the tank is sitting on the ground, how is it best to clean it?  I have a python but I'm pretty sure that won't work without gravity

If you have the python that attaches to the sink and has a "fill" button and a "drain" button, it can work on the floor.

The problem is, the python is then putting aquarium water into the sewage system, and this is how invasive species (like zebra mussels) end up in our waterways.

Two options:

1. Put a mini pump inside a sponge filter (to reduce risk of sucking up fry) and drop the pump into the tank to pump water out.

2. Invest in a high quality turkey baster to suction food and waste off the bare bottom.

Regardless of the method you use, you will want the water to be expelled into a white bucket (minimum) or a paint strainer on top of a 5 gallon bucket (see image) to ensure you don't accidentally toss a baby.

Before I got the paint strainer, I put a mire mesh pasta strainer on the bucket, and put a  coffee filter in the pasta strainer, so any fry who got overly curious about me cleaning the tank didn't get tossed outside with the tank water.

I raise zebra danios, who have some of the tiniest fry! I average a dozen fry in the coffee filter for the first week of fry tank maintenance. 😅