# How can I do this?



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

How do I do a water change with the tiny fry swimming about the tank? They are not in breeder net, the lucky little guys have the run if the 40 gallon. I am afraid to do water change for fear of sucking them up in the vac. Do I need to do a change? It is just them in there with the gravel, no plants or anything and I am feeding the 1st bites sparingly. This is my 1st batch of fry and I dont want to harm them!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Get a mini one of those gravel vac things (Lee's makes one). It has a tube about an inch in diameter attached to hose about the size of airline tubing. Hold your finger over the end and if you see a fry go in the siphon, stop the flow and let it out. Siphon into a white pitcher and check it for fry before you dump it. If you have sucked out a fry, catch it and put it back in the tank. The fish will eventually learn to avoid the thing.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

207lauras said:


> How do I do a water change with the tiny fry swimming about the tank? They are not in breeder net, the lucky little guys have the run if the 40 gallon. I am afraid to do water change for fear of sucking them up in the vac. Do I need to do a change? It is just them in there with the gravel, no plants or anything and I am feeding the 1st bites sparingly. This is my 1st batch of fry and I dont want to harm them!


2l: 

*you did not indicate the type of fry?*

My guppy fry are very, very hardy little devils and being siphoned through a 3/4" tube onto a fine fish net does not seem to bother them.

TR


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Sorry, I am pretty sure that they are glofish (zebra danio) fry.
I know they are small enough to fit through the vac and tubing, I am just afraid that I will not be able to see them if they drop into the bucket!!
Thanks for the advice~


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

207lauras said:


> I know they are small enough to fit through the vac and tubing, I am just afraid that I will not be able to see them if they drop into the bucket!!


2l: You are correct that they will be too small to see or at least with my 56 year old eyes.

Also trying to seine them out a bucket is a way beyond a real PITA.

What I was trying to describe:

[1] is get a large capacity fish net with a fine filter material basket and long handle;

[2] place the net across the bucket with the end of basket on one side of the bucket and the handle supporting the net on the other side of the bucket;

[3] drain the WC water through the fine mesh basket; and

[4] dump the basket which will contain the fry back into the tank.

In my previous post I indicated the use of a 3/4" siphon tube as this size tube will not produce velocities with a 2' elevation difference in the siphon which will not harm guppy fry which so young as to virtually imperceptible.

TR


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Are they smaller than angel fry? I use a pitcher and put a light under it to make the fry visible.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Why not use a mesh tank divider and get the fry to one side. Then drain from the other side to ensure no fry get sucked out.


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

or put some pantyhose over the end of the siphon.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Thanks for all the great advice. I bought a breeder net that I may try to put them in when they get a little bigger, just so that I can finish setting up the tank without harming them. I will try with the pantyhose~ I have a piece now over the intake on the filter and it seems to be working well.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

I do what Jones does - a net in the bucket (well, over the bucket and in the bucket, I guess) to catch the fry.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

I ended up with the panyhose over the gravel vac and it worked like a charm!
However~ I decided to move the fry to the breeder net so I could set up the tank and then add the larger fish. I did end up using the gravel vac to suck them all up into the bucket and then pouring the water into the breeder so they would all be in there. Worked great and so far appears that I didnt lose any! Fed them all right after to make sure they werent too stressed and all seems to be well. Hopefully they will like the 10 gallon just as much when I move them


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