# Fry, every day water change?



## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, i was reading on a topic about fry when i saw someone had written to do a water change every day of 50%. Is this neccesay and why so often? Is it because they dont eat all the food and it lays in the bottom... :-? Any help would be appreciated because i really know nothing about breeding. That baby was a surprise, one morning i found this little one , dont know if the others got eaten or he was the only but i decided to keep it and put it in my fluval chi.... What is the proper care for fry?


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

Also, when i do the water change i need to use the water from my bigger aquarium or i put tap water? Does the gravel need to be cleaned to everytime?


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## verbal (Aug 16, 2011)

A lot of times with fry, you have higher than normal stocking densities. It may also be the filter is not fully cycled. So to avoid ammonia build up, large frequent water changes are necessary. Also fry often get fed more and are growing faster, so there is more waste.

I generally use tank water for water changes in fry tanks.


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

Overstock is not my case since i have a single fry in 6.5galons , i had been feeding it only once a day , should i feed more?


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

All of your questions depend on the fry. Some seem to need more frequent feedings. I can only feed once per day, so I use microworm and tend to allow some detritus buildup in order to encourage the growth of infusoria. I've been successful with this method. I don't do daily 50% changes, but some say it encourages growth. I've found that growth rate varies by species myself. Some species may benefit more from the water changes, I've just never had trouble growing out healthy fry at an acceptable rate on a less aggressive schedule. So, most often not needed IME, but at times may be of a benefit based on the experiences of some.

I, at times, feed enough powdered pellets to ensure that there is a source for grazing througout the day. Just be aware of water quality. If toxins are 0, then there's no harm in the physical presence of detritus, at least none that I know of. Some fry can live through anything, it seems, and some die if you look at them.

HTH


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## thefishkeeper (Sep 16, 2011)

I do a 50% water change every week to my 5 gallon fry tank and they do great and are growing great
and i feed them twice a day but there is 23 of them so for one if you wanted you could feed it twice if you want but a small amount or just the once would would be good 
GOOD LUCK!


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2011)

i have cories or other bottom feeders in all my fry tanks to eat the excess food... i find cories work well cuz they stay small.. i change 50% a week in all my fry tanks and only use cycled sponges in them and they are all fine.. also when the fry are really really small as alot of species are when they are first spit i leave them in the breeder net in the same tank the parents are in till they get bigger to put in a fry tank


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

I was thinking about putting one two ore a snail but im affraid they would eat it sonce its likethe size of 2 grains of rice..............Did any of your fry got eaten?


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## QHgal (May 18, 2006)

Is it a pond snail? They won't do much in the way of excess food and algae unless there are a lot of them. I usually throw in one of the bristlenose plecos, or I pick up a trio of otolincus, great clean up crew.


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2011)

*** had snails in fry tanks.. the snails always die... no they dont eat the fry.. if the fry die the snails will eat the dead bodies.. well i know mystery snails will... i dont put really small fry in fry tanks thou i find they dont find the food as easily as if you leave them in the breeder net for a few weeks and fatten them up first


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

Ok, well this fry wasnt expected at all and i wasnt equiped for it either so luckily my fluval chi was empty and i took it out of the tank so he didnt get eaten. But this little one find his or her food so
since the beginning  Here i have this little thing eating what was falling in my big tank


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

I change about 70% weekly in my 10 gal fry tank, but the important thing is that ammonia and nitrite are zero, and nitrate is low, I keep mine < 10ppm. I don't think 1 fry is going to produce much of any of those things unless you overfeed him, so you shouldn't need to change much water.


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

I dont over feed the fry, the only thing is there s still flakes that end up in the gravel this is my biggest concern, but im wondering if little bit of it can make an impact on the amonia?

Thanks to all for your replies


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## Guest (Sep 23, 2011)

fry tanks should def not have gravel either no substrate or a lil pool filter sand.. gravel is the worst.. put cories in with the fry just make sure you acclimate them for awhile to the higher ph and yea that will affect the nitrates uneaten food


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

What will happen if there`s gravel, this tank wasnt meant to be holding fry..... I just put him there thinking its safer than the other aquarium.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If the gravel is so large and/or the fry is so small that he can enter between the grains and get lost in the maze, that would be bad. Also the gravel does make the frequent water changes and vacuuming up excess food harder for you. You don't want to leave excess flakes on the gravel.

You could also add a bristlenose, they do not eat fry and may help with your excess food problem. But that would be just to help with what you miss when you vacuum up the excess after feeding.


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

Ok, i will take out the gravel just to make sure, And this little ones just loves to hide in the cracks , i guess i ve been lucky until now....
thank you


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## Guest (Sep 23, 2011)

make sure you gravel vac thoroughly before you remove it.. then i find its easiest to use a rectangular shallow tupperware container to scoop all the gravel out cuz you will have problems with a round container... push the gravel forward towards the glass and eventually you'll get it all up


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

I emptied the whole thing out and restarted it. Took off the gravel, refilled with the water that is in the bigger tank. Hope is good now!


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

prov356 said:


> Some species may benefit more from the water changes, I've just never had trouble growing out healthy fry at an acceptable rate on a less aggressive schedule. So, most often not needed IME, but at times may be of a benefit based on the experiences of some.


Prov, water changes remove waste, increase disolved O2, and replenish items in the water column that might be used up in aquarium over time. The end result is a healthy stress free life for fry which promotes growth.

There are other ways to acheive all of the above and I find that many an advanced aquarist does a number of things with their aquariums to promote all of the above at al times. Those folks will see no benefit to a large water change or maybe a minimal improvement if anything... I have grown out fry with massive water changes and with smaller water changes but very "perfected" environmental conditions. Growth rates were about equal.

I've also seen a case where someone tried very large water changes with improperly prepared water and their growth rate was slow... My guess is the water (fresh from tap to tank) was a big source of stress!

Thout youd be interested in those observations! :thumb:


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> Prov, water changes remove waste, increase disolved O2, and replenish items in the water column that might be used up in aquarium over time. The end result is a healthy stress free life for fry which promotes growth.


I didn't say don't do water changes at all. I understand the purpose of water changes. It comes down to what's needed just like with adult fish.


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