# Found a single fry in my tank!



## Shellectra (Aug 23, 2008)

I was just doing a weekly water change in my malawi tank and had to scrub algae off the rocks, and as I removed a rock to clean it, well, I found a baby FISH!!!! How random!! I have no experience with fry whatsoever, so I don't know what to think!

If I saw one - does it mean there may be more, or are they all eaten maybe? How many babies do they usually have? I have a hunch it may have been my cobalt blue zebras, because one of them hid for a couple of weeks and wouldn't eat, and her mouth looked slightly swollen/bulged. Not hugely so, but a little! I thought she was just being bullied, but now she is out more, and maybe she spat out fry? lol!

I tried to grab a net to rescue the littly, but by the time I got it, theres no way I can find it now, it was seriously 5mm long 

Anyway just wanted to share and see what you guys thought, does it mean my tank is healthy if some of my fish are breeding? I didn't expect any babies yet tho cos my fish are all juvies!!! The cobalt zebras are only 2 inches long!


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Congrats! :dancing: 
That is how I found out my Juvies were becoming adults to. Normal weekly water change and saw a fry. I got so excited I went out and bought a complete 10g set-up, Slowly removed every single piece of rock from my 40g one at a time while poised with a net to save any babies I found... With all that work and a bare tank all I got were 2 fry! But many batches later I still have those original 2...


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## algae eater (Jul 29, 2008)

The first fry is always exciting. Congrats. When I got my first one, I went out and got a breeding net to segregate him from the others. He got out pretty quick and I just did not bother anymore. They usually hide behind rocks and other things until they are bigger and then venture out further. I don't do anything special for them and I seem to get quite a few. == You were asking about the number of them. I rarely have seem more than a couple at one time.


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## Shellectra (Aug 23, 2008)

Thanks guys!!

I can't see him anymore and I feel bad because I unknowingly took away the rock he was hiding under  He's probably eaten now 

Oh well hopefully there's more in the near future!! He was sooo ittybitty!!


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## barryst (Sep 9, 2006)

Hi!

I just wanted to add, that if you create a lot of hiding places, your fry will have many places to hide and MOST will survive in there with the other larger fish.

I have about 40 to 100 fry in my tank almost all the time, along with huge adults! I have a lot of piles of sea shells- ( not just the flat kind ) and a semi-coarse gravel on the bottom of my 150 gallon tank.

I started out with about 30 fish in the beginning, and now have way too many to count.-
( I always do a weekly water change! My key to success!)

I have been giving my excess fish to local fish stores.

Anyways, Good luck!

-Barry


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