# Guppy Fry Tank



## Tocs1001

Hey ! Im setting up a small breeding tank system with 3 10g's and I have the male and female tanks set up. I bought a tank at the garage sales my neighborhood had last weekend and it had a filter which used carbon and filter floss. 

Question#1 What kind of filter would i use in the fry tank so that they dont get sucked in and ground up by a motor? In my other 2 tanks I have penguin mini's with bio wheels.  Would the kind I got with the garage sale tank be a good choice or should i go with sponge filter.

Question#2 In the 10g i got first I now have 1 oto sucker fish in another post I read they should be in groups but.... He is already cleaned most of the tank by himself with 2 i think there would be a shortage of algea or is there more that I just cant see that he is feasting on? Should I get another oto?

Question#3 Should ,when I get the fry tank set up, I get an oto or 2 for it or will they wind up eating the guppy fry? what other fish will not eat the fry just to keep in there to keep the tank functioning, also for looks, my mom wants to "adopt a fish" of her choice so I want to know what I can put in there not to devour the fry.

Question#4 What kind of cover should I get for fry. Live plants, fake plants, homemade stuff (ex pvc pipe, yarn furry things. I heard a guy say that he had a box over in the corner with holes in it big enough for fry to swim through but not the guppy moms or dad. How big should a hole be?? 


Sry for some many questions


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## Ownager2004

Java moss is supposed to provide the best cover for fry and it helps grow/feed stuff that they eat. I have a penguin mini in my 10 also. Im just keeping a community tank and raising the fry in there. I had them seperated out for awhile, but decided to put them back in after a like 2 weeks. Anyways a healthy fry should be able to escape your intake, and they generally stay away from open water. So what i did was just move the intake to one side of the tank and put a lot of cover on the other side. It eliminates a lot current in some areas allowing them to rest up.

Im not sure about otos, but maybe a bristle nose pleco would work fine for your fry tank. I hear they wont eat any moving healthy fry. You would have to supplement its diet with algae wafers, most likely. Which you may want to do with your oto also?

If you just want a bare bottomed tank to raise fry in so you can see them most of the time, most people use sponge filters for those type of setups.

Im by no means an expert on this yet, but i think most people will backup my advice.

Oh and when i had my fry in a seperate tank i didn't use a filter for it. I just skimmed the organic waste off of the top with a cup and then did a 50% water change everyday. None of them died, but since water quality is a big issue in growth i dont think this was the best route to go. This was in a 1 gallon tank also.


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## fish_doc

> Question#1 What kind of filter would i use in the fry tank so that they dont get sucked in and ground up by a motor? In my other 2 tanks I have penguin mini's with bio wheels. Would the kind I got with the garage sale tank be a good choice or should i go with sponge filter.


Sponge filters are usually the eaisest to use in fry tanks.



> Question#2 In the 10g i got first I now have 1 oto sucker fish in another post I read they should be in groups but.... He is already cleaned most of the tank by himself with 2 i think there would be a shortage of algea or is there more that I just cant see that he is feasting on? Should I get another oto?


In a 10 gallon I would hold off even though you can suppliment with algae wafers you dont want to overstock your tank with bottom feeders unless that is all you want in the tank.



> Question#3 Should ,when I get the fry tank set up, I get an oto or 2 for it or will they wind up eating the guppy fry? what other fish will not eat the fry just to keep in there to keep the tank functioning, also for looks, my mom wants to "adopt a fish" of her choice so I want to know what I can put in there not to devour the fry.


Corydora would be your best bet. But you really dont need bottom feeders to maintain your tank. If you are breeding fish you will probably have good water quality and this means little waste for algae growth. As far as fish that would be safe. That would be nothing. As a rule if the fry can fit in the other fishes mouth it will. 



> Question#4 What kind of cover should I get for fry. Live plants, fake plants, homemade stuff (ex pvc pipe, yarn furry things. I heard a guy say that he had a box over in the corner with holes in it big enough for fry to swim through but not the guppy moms or dad. How big should a hole be??


I have made a "box out of craft mesh and that works good for guppy fry. Fake plants are also good.


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## John

I've got a similar question about filters for fry tanks. I would like to use power filters (that hang of the back of the tank). I've heard that they make sponges to put over the intake tube to keep fry out and to provide more filtration. Is this true? Are they expensive (and what do they usually cost)?


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## Ownager2004

I just had newborn fry yesterday and i actually saw one of them get very close to my power filter intake. I have a power filter on my 10 gallon that said "use on up to 20 gallons". The fry in question was not more than 1.5 days old and when it felt itself getting sucked toward the intake it shot off like a rocket in the other direction. However, this was a platy fry, but im more than confident that healthy fry wont get sucked into my power filter anymore. Also it is on full blast with nothing to inhibit water flow.


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## doggydad38

Many people use sponge or corner bubble-type filters when raising fry. I raise Guppy fry in a bare 5 gallon tank for the first 6 weeks and I have used submersible power filters for more than 3 years. I take the filter material out for the first week. Any fish that are sucked up in the filter will usually pass back out and learn a valuable lesson about swimming too close. I like dwarf cory cats in my newborn fry tanks. Larger varieties will eat the babies that linger near the bottom for too long. When I transfer them to 10 gallon tanks to grow out, then I used Bronze or Albino corys. ( Just my person favorites ) I do 30% water changes twice weekly on all of my tanks. By using corys, you have the option of breeding your own replacement "scavengers" if you happen to have a tank open that you won't be using for your Guppies. As for algae, I usually scrape my tanks twice a month to keep growth to a minimum.
Tony


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## fish_doc

John - You can take a filter made for a aquaclear filters. Just cut a x down the center of the filter and slip it up over the intake tube.


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## Tocs1001

Im confused I think I should narrow my question down. I have a 10 gallon tank with no filter
and im going to use it to raise my fry what kind of filter should I use? Would it be a good idea to take the Penguin Mini and cap the intake with a sponge to protect them from getting sucked in?


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## fish_doc

That would work great. Simple and if you already have the filter it would be innexpensive.


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## lalo

has anyone tryed raising fry without a filter or heater?? ovbiously not at the community tank :wink:


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## doggydad38

I've never tried raising fish without using filters. Even with them, I'm still dong water changes because of the amount of waste produced by the fish. As for the heater, I don't use them. Guppies can handle a wide range of temperature without much ill-effect.
Tony


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## Ownager2004

When i had platy fry I raised them for the first few weeks in a simple 1 gallon tank with no filter or heater. They did great as far as i could tell (none died, lol). I did daily partial water changes though... usually around 50%


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## sbsociety

My fry right now currently have no filter. The heater evidently either sucks, or isn't working, cause the temp stays at around 75 degrees... And yes, they're all fine as far as I can tell. 

I do a 30-50% w/c (with gravel vac) every 2-4 days and everything's peachy. What I DO do though, is this... Since my fry tank is between two of my breeder tanks, everytime I do a gravel vac and stir up the gravel, I transfer over one of my filters from a tank right next to it for about 2-3 hours. (I make sure there both tanks are disease free so not to transfer it...) Helps pick up the stirred up gravel. 

I do frequent and big changes cause mine has hundreds of fry, and the gravel gets pretty effed up by 3 days. With few fry you can do it once a week.


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## lalo

alright, good to know I don't "have" to have an extra filter and heater for my fry :grin:


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