Sarah's Diary

I use a finely woven handkerchief to filter my infusoria water through. You could do that with the pond water and don't scoop up anything big enough that you can see to pour through it. You should get all kinds of microscopic animals.

Did you see/scoop up any dead fry while you were siphoning, Sarah? I also did a clean up in my fry tank today, not as thorough as I'd of liked, I got too scared of hurting the fry because they just wouldn't leave the siphon alone and I did suck up about 6 (ugh!). I picked up a few dead fry :-(

It feels good to spring clean their tanks doesn't it, they make a lot of mess and they're so small ;-)

Glad everything is going well cant wait for updated pics

No didnt find any dead ones, they do make a mess for such little fish, just tried getting some pics but they dont stay still long enough for my camera to focus, will try again later.

Did you get your bbs hatching sorted hun?

Talking of live food... i usually buy a bag of live daphnia and put the lot into the fry tank. Little fry won't eat them but as they grow you see the daphnia numbers dwindle. They are also a good indicator of water conditions as daphnia will die off quick if stats aren't good.

Less daphnia and no bodies is great... dead ones on the bottom, time to test the water!

Yes had a succesful bathch, got another lot on the go now, and my micro worm populations have exploded, i,ve got enough to feed a small army of fish, the wrigglers are spoilt for choice.

Your fry are so lucky! You'll have to draw up some menu's for 'em ;-)

How's everything going sarah

Fine, did another water change yesterday, they eating very well their bellies seem constantly full, like a tiny barrel, foung one little dead weedy one, im off away tomorrow till monday so just sorted some family and friends to come and give them regular meals

Well today i go on holiday till monday so i have to leave my fry in the trusty hands of a friend shes going to come and feed them, sure they will be fine but still its a worry they will only be left sat and sun im back on monday.

Skeggy here we come

Sarah

Have a nice weekend hun

Sure we will thanks, even if it is p***ing it down and gale force winds, taking my laptop so i may be on at some point, looks like im designated driver as well,

Enjoy your weekend

Back home now first thing i did is race upstairs to check my fry, they look fine, done a water change found 2 dead ones they were very small compared to some of the others dosnt look as if they had eaten the bigger ones have big round bellies, they didnt. Pheew what a relief they are ok.

thats great hun... can't help worrying when there's lil ones lol

2 weeks old today, thats the longest ive kept fry alive for, my molly babies only lasted a few days

Glad the fry are doing well

Go You!!!

get them to 4 weeks and you're almost there... most fatalities happen in the first month

how many do you think you have now?

they're hard work but I find it does make you appreciate them more... how on earth do they survive in the wild? lol

counted about 20 but with the plants in there its hard, some still very very small compared with the bigger ones,

Im doing water changes every other day with a mixture of treated mature tap water, RO water and mature aquarium water am i doing things right

doin fine hun.. you could prob spread out the water changes more as they grow, just keep an eye on stats

biggest killer is either fouled water from food or 'new' water not matching close enough

by 6 weeks you want to start powdering adult foods too and replacing the odd bbs meal with it.

sooner they take it the easier it is long term for pellets and flakes

kel, whats the best way to condition tap water before you add it to the tank?... I know it sounds like a really novice question but I just wanted to clarify that theres not some special "betta" specific technique lol

I generally check the temp is the same by putting my hand in... and adding a few drops of tap water conditioner...

only thing otherwise than temp and water conditioner is check ph occasionally... mine is a mess (tap water) and caused many bad fins over the summer months.. ph jump between 7.6- 8.8+ daily.. thats more than enough to kill fry if they're normally at 6.8

My actual tanks are at 7.0 ph now due to well water but anything over 0.2 ph change adds stress so if basic stats are clear and you clear debris regularly its worth a check on.

How are the fry doing sarah

They are good storm thanks, still got smone very tiny weedy looking ones, but theres plenty that have grown, i reckon theres about 20, they are eating very well, i have noticed this morning there is a baby apple snail in their its about the size of one of the fry must have come with the plants, shall i leave it in or remove it

As long as its smaller than the fry i dont see it doing any harm