# Zebra Danio fry: I need serious help please!



## MrsShirley

My boyfriend's 10 gallon tank has one male ADF and 2 long finned zebra danios(not sure of the gender, but I guess one of them has to be a female! lol).

The tank undergoing cycling and today the ammonia was sky high. We were looking at the fish and I saw little tiny black things and I was like... "JACOB!!! TADPOLES!!!" I only thought they were tadpoles because I researched ADFs when he got them and the website said their fry are little tiny black things. But I realized they are in fact long finned Zebra Danio fry.

Anyway, there is a butt load in his tank and I couldn't get them out; they are so tiny and fast! But we did a water change today and he never emptied the last bucket and there was a bunch in there so I took a water bottle, poured half the water out and filled the rest with tank water and spooned out about 10 to 14 little guys into the bottle to take home.

We know the fry in the tank will probably be eaten but we are hoping to save the few I took home. I put them in a 1 liter tank(filled with the water I had them in and my betta fish's tank water). There is no heater and no filter. There is an air bubbler and a live plant.

I'm not going to be able to go into town to get supplies until Saturday and I have no idea what to do! What will I need?

What do I feed them? I have frozen blood worms, betta flakes and pellets and frog and tadpole pellets.. but these little guys are so tiny... do they sorta 'filter feed' at this stage in life? I really want them to survive any help would be great. Thank you!!!


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## AtRandom

MrsShirley said:


> My boyfriend's 10 gallon tank has one male ADF and 2 long finned zebra danios(not sure of the gender, but I guess one of them has to be a female! lol).
> 
> The tank undergoing cycling and today the ammonia was sky high. We were looking at the fish and I saw little tiny black things and I was like... "JACOB!!! TADPOLES!!!" I only thought they were tadpoles because I researched ADFs when he got them and the website said their fry are little tiny black things. But I realized they are in fact long finned Zebra Danio fry.
> 
> Anyway, there is a butt load in his tank and I couldn't get them out; they are so tiny and fast! But we did a water change today and he never emptied the last bucket and there was a bunch in there so I took a water bottle, poured half the water out and filled the rest with tank water and spooned out about 10 to 14 little guys into the bottle to take home.
> 
> We know the fry in the tank will probably be eaten but we are hoping to save the few I took home. I put them in a 1 liter tank(filled with the water I had them in and my betta fish's tank water). There is no heater and no filter. There is an air bubbler and a live plant.
> 
> I'm not going to be able to go into town to get supplies until Saturday and I have no idea what to do! What will I need?
> 
> What do I feed them? I have frozen blood worms, betta flakes and pellets and frog and tadpole pellets.. but these little guys are so tiny... do they sorta 'filter feed' at this stage in life? I really want them to survive any help would be great. Thank you!!!


How small/large are they? I don't keep danios and have never had fry other than livebearers and shrimp so my advice may not be so great...but until someone else gives you some, here's mine. Don't shoot me if it doesn't work! I skim read some information about your particular fish at Robyn's Fry Page, and I'm assuming that your fry may be very very small. Luckily these are hardy fish! I have had one for at least 4 months in my 75gal Oscar tank that, for some reason, they never ate (not the same variation as your fish, but still a danio)!
*WATER:*
If the ammonia is sky high, I would recommend that you add bottled/dechlorinated (added chemical) tap water to the fry tank to dilute the ammonia ASAP. Fish fry (any fish really) can die very quickly in ammonia!!! You could try pooring off most of their old water into another container, and give them clean water as mentioned above. _Saving the old water could help you jump start some biological filtration (see below)._ To change the water, you will want to determine if the fish are at the top (as Danios spend most their time) or if the fry enjoy the middle/bottom areas. If they enjoy the top, you can poor them and their cleaner portion of the water into another container and dump the nasty water OR use a syphon (which is easier). You can make a syphon out of airline hosing if you don't have anything else. If they are at the bottom, you will have to just change the water by scooping it with a suitable cup/bowl.
*FILTRATION:*
The cheapest and probably most appropriate solution for these fry would be to use a Sponge+Tube+Aerator filter (called a "Sponge Filter"), which is driven by an air pump. If you don't have an adequate air-pump, Walmart, and surely everywhere else, sells hang-in-tank filters that include the air pump. I just took one out of the box last night to inspect how they work, looks good. Those cost around $10 USD.
*Sponge Filter:*
You can search the internet for pretty good How-To's, here's mine:
Materials: Sponge ($1-$5), Tube (~$1-$6), aerator, airline, airstone (optional).​1. To make a Sponge+Tube+Aerator filter - get your hands on some sort of non-toxic sponge. I recently tried using kitchen-type sponges from the dollar store (10 for $1) and wasn't impressed. It either was poor quick design or the sponges themselves did not allow for much movement between the pores. The larger the pores, the easier it is for water/particles to move through (which is good), but the more likely your fry will become lodged/stuck in those pores (which is bad). Pet stores sell all sorts of sponges that are used for large canister or AquaClear "hang over back" filters - perhaps you can find an inexpensive, nicely sized pore sponge. Stack/shape the sponge appropriately and use "rubber bands" to hold it together.​2. Next, you can purchase a foot of "flex-tube" from Lowe's (or some hardware store). It is a transparent/semi-transparent flexible tube that you often see aquarium syphons made from. I would recommend a diameter of 3/4"-1". You can also just use the tubing found at the pet store for "under-gravel" filters.​3. Cut a circular hole in the sponge stack (or tall singular sponge) that is slightly smaller than the tubes exterior circumference and deep enough to keep the tube snugly in place while in the tank (if it is not snug, it will not work at all, as water will move up the tube directly through the gap, instead of through the sponge first).​4. Finally, run air-line tubing down into the flex-tube until it is near the sponge. Do not place it too low or else the bubbles will escape out the bottom instead of creating a vacuum. Also, be sure to cut the tubing height so that it does not extend out of the water surface (which may end up falling over and pumping water out of the tank)!​*How it works:* When you turn the air pump on, as the bubbles rise up the flex-tube, they will displace the water above them (push water up and out) creating a vacuum/percolating effect. On the lower end, the same thing is happening - water from the aquarium moves through the sponge at a slow rate to reach the tubing, trapping debris.
The sponge is a great place for beneficial bacterial to colonize. If you saved some of the very high-ammonia water, allow your sponge filter to run in this separate container for a while (time: not sure, maybe a day or two). There should hopefully be bacteria already in the water from the original tank, and the first stage bacteria will begin to grow as it breaks down ammonia, which you have plenty of. The ammonia is then made into _less_ toxic nitrite which will feed an emerging second stage bacteria. After secondary bacteria metabolize the nitrite, it turns into significantly less toxic nitrate, which you will control with water changes.
_Because your fry are not in a filter-cycled system, you can assume that none of this is taking place right now._ *With that said, you should perform a ~50% water change every other day-ish.*​If you choose any type of filter that is NOT a sponge filter, remember to *wrap some nylon stockings, sponge, or other "guard" around the intake of the filter* so the fry don't get sucked in! Wallymart sells little black hair-bands to my wife, which I regularly steal from her for this purpose!
*FOOD:*
Your blood worms and pellets are likely to be too large for newly free-swimming fry. Depending on their size (they may not be as young as you think if you just happened to notice them..they could be days or weeks old! But I don't know their size so I will give some ideas), you will either need to purchase a baby-food (often times a liquid form) or you can get away with crushing (REALLY CRUSHING) up tropical fish flake food. The best way to do this is to place a large pinch of flakes it in a sandwich bag or something similar and roll it between your fingers until it looks like a fine, homogeneously colored powder (probably brownish red). This should last them a very long time. You mentioned Betta-flakes - I would compare the label of this food with that of other flakes. If the Crude-Protein, Fat, Pot-Ash, etc. are almost identical, then just use what you have! Protein is the key ingredient to fish growth, but I _think_ the other parts are still essential to their diet.
*CAUTION:* Be very _very_ sure *not to over-feed the fry*, but feed them often (2 or 3 times/day). A very small pinch of crushed flake food will literally scatter accross the entire surface area of your tank, so you may want to try adding a very small portion for the first time. "Only feed what they will eat in a few minutes," as most packages say.​*FEEDING:*
Excess food can kill them very fast because it turns into ammonia very fast, and your tank is very small. For the first time feeding, watch them for some 10-20 minutes after adding the flakes and see if they: eat them from the surface, wait for them to sink to eat them, or don't eat them at all. If they don't eat it, leave the food in there for another (less than) 1 hour and check if they still haven't touched it. If this is the case, just use airline hosing and syphon out the debris form the bottom and do a slight water change. If you can't do this, you will probably want to decant your fish and their water into another container and toss out the remaining flake-water. Gently poor them back into their "tank" and add new water in to replace what was removed. I'm not sure what you should do after this - try the baby-fish foods?
*SUBSTRATE:*
Personally, I think a bare-bottom tank is much easier to clean and to inventory the fish. If they are cannibalistic, some suggest the addition of large-sized gravel/glass beads so they can hide from eachother. I would just put some fish-safe obstacles (fake plants, small PVC piping pieces/joints, etc.) in the tank to make it easier to clean.
*LIGHTING:*
According to Robyn's Fry Page, fry are attracted to the surface at feeding time by light, so you may wish to put a small desk lamp near the tank. Be careful not to use too high-powered lights or place them too close to the tank, as it may undesirably heat the water or stress the fish (_fish says,_ "OMGBBQ IT'S SO BRIGHT!").
*Wrap-up:*
Once your filter has had some time to culture bacteria, move it to the fry tank and you won't have to worry sooo much about small portions of extra food or having to do water changes every day. You will still want to perform partial water changes regularly and frequently to promote growth - probably 30-50% 2-3 times a week. You can move on to blood worms and all that fun stuff when they look large enough to eat them!
*Additional things you may want:*
AmmoLock (or some type of ammonia-fixer): I don't know much about this because I haven't used a chem like this in 8+ years, but it may be a good option to have on hand if your new container is not cycled.

Welcome to the forums and best of luck, Mrs.Shirley, let us know how things turn out!

Regards,
Craig


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## MrsShirley

Thank you so much for the information!

I tried a tiny bit of hard boiled egg yolk, but man, that made the water nasty, and I only put a tiny bit!

I don't think they can even eat at this stage, they are sooooooooooooooooo tiny.

Tomorrow, I'm going to brave the after thanksgiving shoppers and hunt for the liquid fry food, master water test kit, a new aerator (this one has got to be 100 years old and it so loud! lol!) a kritter keeper tank, and a heater. Also a brine shrimpery for when(if) they get older.

Right now they are still alive, I can't test ammonia because I gave my ammonia tester to a friend, not thinking I would need it anymore (since I regularly change my bettas tank) But I've tested for nitrate and nitrites and they are great.

I have about 13-15. lol every time I count I get a new number. 

They mostly hang around the corners and sides of the tank, and swim if provoked (I know I shouldn't do that! I just want to make sure they are still alive haha)

The water temp is about 77 degrees from a desk lamp. Will the light be harmful for them? I'm going to have to keep it on all night. ugh.


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## majerah1

Do you have live plants?If so they will eat from the microorganisms on the plants.In my experience,fry will have little to no interest in flakes.You can head to your LFS for brine shrimp eggs.Pick up a batch of them,and hatch them The fry will munch on them.You will need to feed this for at least two to three weeks and then try to get them on finley crushed flakes or the first bites.

Just FYI,the liquid fry food is egg yolk with vitamins added.


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## MrsShirley

I have 2 aponogetons in their tank right now. So this is enough for food until they are big enough to eat fine flakes or first bites? I believe they are less than a week old right now.

How often should I do water changes? The current tank is only about 1.5 Liters.

I have a desk lamp for warmth, will it be okay if I left it on all night until I can get a heater?

What should I get from the pet store in the means of tank/filter etc. Just for the fry, I plan on giving the adults back to my fiance lol or can I continue to do what I'm doing now?


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## AtRandom

majerah1 said:


> Do you have live plants?If so they will eat from the microorganisms on the plants.In my experience,fry will have little to no interest in flakes.You can head to your LFS for brine shrimp eggs.Pick up a batch of them,and hatch them The fry will munch on them.You will need to feed this for at least two to three weeks and then try to get them on finley crushed flakes or the first bites.
> 
> Just FYI,the liquid fry food is egg yolk with vitamins added.


thanks for the info, I've never had fish egg-laying fish fry, so I'm used to the larger babies! I wonder if this liquid fry food's egg yolk is boiled or un-cooked? Or maybe cooked, then dissolved in liquid to fine particulate, but without bacteria...I should read about this as I will one day have some egg-laying fry. I used one of these products to try to feed some 1/2 inch baby Texas Cichlids as well as new born sailfins, but I believe the particles were too fine for their size, but they did take to the minutely crushed flakes. The baby food drops looked like an yellowish-white milk that disappeared in the tank.

MrsShirley - What is your room temperature? If its not below 73ish, I wouldn't risk leaving the fish with 24 hours of light, it may stress them or even heat the water too much or not enough! You may be able to turn the lamp to face away from them and have it close enough to radiate heat, but again you would want to monitor what the temperature will be after the temp in the water stabilizes.
The plants you have will hopefully, and most likely, have microorganisms that they can feed on, as Majerah1 pointed out. Water changes are less frequent, I'd think, if they are just eating bugs instead of being fed by you. A guy at an African Cichlid store/breeder told me that all his fish grew much faster if he performed huge water changes once a week and fed the fish several small meals a day (when u get foods). However, I'm not sure if that will be the case with these fish.
As for the test kits you have available, nitrite and nitrate only become available with the decrease of ammonia. I suppose they could be somewhat useful in determining if you have an effective bacteria culture. If the nitrite/nitrates rise, I guess it means the ammonia is being fixed, but does not really safely tell you that the _level_ of ammonia is decreasing overall (fish will continue to produce it).


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## MrsShirley

I ended up shutting the light off last night. I put a plastic bag over the little tank. haha. This morning it was at 72 :/

I have 7 swimmers, they other are alive but not active. They hang out at the bottom, but if I come near them with a toothpick they swim away. I can see little eyeballs now!! This is so exciting. (Obviously, I've never had any sort of fry before lol)

I'm going to Petco in a few hours to get supplies.


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## majerah1

AtRandom said:


> thanks for the info, I've never had fish egg-laying fish fry, so I'm used to the larger babies! I wonder if this liquid fry food's egg yolk is boiled or un-cooked? Or maybe cooked, then dissolved in liquid to fine particulate, but without bacteria...I should read about this as I will one day have some egg-laying fry. I used one of these products to try to feed some 1/2 inch baby Texas Cichlids as well as new born sailfins, but I believe the particles were too fine for their size, but they did take to the minutely crushed flakes. The baby food drops looked like an yellowish-white milk that disappeared in the tank.
> 
> MrsShirley - What is your room temperature? If its not below 73ish, I wouldn't risk leaving the fish with 24 hours of light, it may stress them or even heat the water too much or not enough! You may be able to turn the lamp to face away from them and have it close enough to radiate heat, but again you would want to monitor what the temperature will be after the temp in the water stabilizes.
> The plants you have will hopefully, and most likely, have microorganisms that they can feed on, as Majerah1 pointed out. Water changes are less frequent, I'd think, if they are just eating bugs instead of being fed by you. A guy at an African Cichlid store/breeder told me that all his fish grew much faster if he performed huge water changes once a week and fed the fish several small meals a day (when u get foods). However, I'm not sure if that will be the case with these fish.
> As for the test kits you have available, nitrite and nitrate only become available with the decrease of ammonia. I suppose they could be somewhat useful in determining if you have an effective bacteria culture. If the nitrite/nitrates rise, I guess it means the ammonia is being fixed, but does not really safely tell you that the _level_ of ammonia is decreasing overall (fish will continue to produce it).



Stay away from the egg yolk and the liquid fry,unless you have raised fry before.IMO/E if you feed vinegar eels and move up the fry will survive longer.the egg yolk is too messy.The VEs are live food and will live in the water column awhile.I raise bettas,im sure you may know how small the fry are from them.they eat vinegar eels first week,then i move into BBS.The i do what was written above,start them on the first bites,or in my case they get moved to golden pearls and atison betta starter.But most fry will not touch unmoving food.

The liquifry is a boiled egg yolk smooshed into some water,with vitamins added.The bacteria grow from that.so basically you are feeding bacteria for the fry to eat.Growing food for food,lol.

I leave the lights on my fry tank for the first two weeks as they will be looking for food.Many breeders feel it lets them see the food a little better.Then its lights off at night.


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## MrsShirley

Thanks!

I gave them a tip of a toothpick of first bites, I don't know if they ate any. I did see some approach it though. I really think BBS would be smaller than the fry right now, I've never seen anything so little, I don't see how they are alive lol.

I got a large kritter keeper. Should I move them to that now or wait until they are bigger? 

Should I be worried about the ones that aren't swimming yet? I have 8 now that are swimming.

Petco and Petsmart don't have liquid fry (which I wasn't going to get) and they don't have BBS eggs or anything, so I need to go to my LFS tomorrow.. if they're even open lol


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## majerah1

Believe it or not,the BBS are very tiny.They should have no problems eating them.You can place them in the critter keeper now,but be gentle.Keep it nice and warm for them,they will grow better.If they were going near the first bites,all it takes is one to start eating then the rest will follow.But you still need the extra nutrition of the BBS.

Just to give you a fry size comparison,in this pic,the male in the background is less than an inch in length.These are his fry,if you look really close hanging from the bubbles.They are very tiny.They can eat BBS right now,which i will hatch tomorrow for them.


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## MrsShirley

They are about the same or a bit smaller than them. Wow I can't believe how tiny these things can be! I will get some BBS and hatch them for these little guys. I'm so excited.


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## majerah1

Good luck with them.i love baby fish.Its so neat to watch them go from so tiny to a full grown fish!


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