# Just found out I had Glofish fries... Need Help!



## MightyJunky

Hello everyone, 

I am new to this forum and also new to the fish-keeping hobby. I have a 10 gallon freshwater tank currently housing 4 glofish danios. I've made a fair share of mistakes as a newbie and I have been researching and asking questions on various forums to do things right. I was planning on changing up this tank to house 2 to 3 pea(dwarf) puffers after my run with these danios.

However, yesterday morning, I found few fish fries between the gravel after looking at it for a while and confirming its movements. So I ran to the store and bought one of those "fry saver" net and an over-sized droplet tool (i think) that's actually used for cooking. I realize now that it was way too big. Anyways, I manually picked out fish fries and moved them to the net. I also did a partial water change to save 10+ fries and moved them to the net. 

Unfortunately, they were so small that I think some were able to escape the net. So I grabbed a small plastic container (Glad container) and extracted more today. I probably lost some from yesterday but I really want to save as much of these little fries as possible. Yesterday, I witnessed the horror of the adult gobbling up its baby, although I knew that danios are more than capable of doing that given the opportunity. 

Here is where I need the help:

*Please note that I am still new to this and I don't have extra fish tanks to move the adults or the fries. I am currently in a financial bind so sudden expense for additional tank is not a possibility. 

1) I hear that you are not suppose to feed fries until they are able to freely swim. If so, will keeping them in a floating plastic container be ok? I will do its own mini water change (i.e. pour out some water and fill up with new ones from the fish tank). I am thinking about doing this because I heard that free floating algae in the water is also beneficial to the fries' diet. 

2) Once the fries are big enough, that is, if they do grow in the small container (hopefully), I plan on moving them into the net that I had purchased. Once they are in there, what is the best food for them? I heard somewhere that hard boiled egg yolk broken into small pieces is good but in small amounts for it can foul the water. Is tiny tiny flake food not good for fries? Anything I can do, or add into the net that would benefit the fries a little bit more?

3) When can i combine the babies with the adults? How long will that take?

I apologize ahead for my lengthy post. I really want to save these little guys as much as possible so any help (fitting to my limited status) would be very much appreciated.


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## Summer

Fish fries. hehehe. I believe they are just referred to as fry, don't take no offense please, I just found it really cute and had an image of little fishy french fries.


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## MightyJunky

Any constructive criticism is appreciated! 

I am quite a tight-*** with terminology in other areas too, so saying things correctly in the future is important. hahahaha.

Fish french fries.. sounds delicious but NOT my fishies


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## Summer

Yea I have a degree in English so I have a tendency to go all grammar freak sometimes. If you are wondering why I didnt answer your original question, it's because i'm a newb...i could take an educated guess but I'll let the pros answer rather than risk giving you faulty information!


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## susankat

Congrats on the babies.

If you have a large container, like a gal jar or a plastic container a little larger than a shoe box you can put them in it with an airstone and keep where it will stay around the same temp all the time.
They won't eat as long as they have the egg sac absorbed, which can take anywhere from 2 days to 5 days depending on fish and temp of water. Once the egg sac is gone you can feed finely crushed flake or purchase liquid fry food. Do daily water changes but don't use tank water, use fresh dechlorinated water, its healtier for them.

Use a piece of airline or the turkey baster to remove water carefully cleaning off the bottom of any left over food. Then slowly add your fresh water back. Should be good in there for the time that they need to grow so they won't fit in the adults mouths.


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## MightyJunky

Can I get by with a smaller container and without the airstone? I am willing to do the daily water change and crushing up flake food. I mean, if the container size is necessary, I can probably find a big container, it's just I have a nice plastic container that is much smaller than 1 gal (I think 1/4 gal ish).

What do you think is better, crushed flake food or crushed hard boiled egg yolk? I guess this question is very specific to my fishes, glofish danios.

Also, I've read somewhere that it is illegal to breed then sell or trade glofishes. True? I was hoping to trade these guys once they grow and become strong.


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## susankat

Don't mess with egg yolk especially if you don't have a filter on the container. No they need and airstone at least, just water changes don't cut it. You will loose all your fry. I think the time has passed where you couldn't breed or sell or give away fry because people all over are doing it. If the gal jar is the biggest container you have leave them in it but get an airstone in there or its going to be useless.


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## MightyJunky

Thanks a lot. I will look into an airstone right away. I saw your other posts about fry needing water flow. If they are big enough to fit in the net, I can totally put it in front of the filter so it gets direct water flow but... not that big yet. Wish me luck and, again, I really appreciate the speedy response. I think I will be a loyal member of this forum from here on out. hehehe.


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## Cadiedid

Thanks to both MightyJunky for posting the query and to susankat for the response! I am a newb and I have a new tank and have already made every mistake in the book with these fish. This morning, to my dismay, I discovered one of my longfin danios is almost dead and was trying to figure out if there is any way to save him when I found (so far) two danio fry in my tank! Because the fish belong to my 4 year old daughter who will be devastated if they die, I want to do everything possible to ensure they survive, but seeing as I seemingly can't even keep the adults alive, I ran to my computer in a panic! 

My problem with my main tank is that I put fish in there without cycling and have had some minor ammonia problems which I have been monitoring closely and addressing with water changes.

I was worried about the prospects of these guys surviving but I will gather the supplies needed and do everything you mentioned above, susankat. I have a few questions though:

I have a small 1.3 gallon mini tank with an air-pump powered mini-filter. It housed a comet for 3 years (yes, I know this wasn't an ideal home for him) until he died about a month ago. Would this be a suitable home for the babies? It is taller than it is wide, so would a 5 gallon glass tank be better for more surface area?

If I use the mini tank, should I clean it any special way since there was a dead fish in it? (I don't think it died of any disease because it was always the only fish in there and so he was quarantined for 3 years.) 

Should I use the mini filter or just use the air stone?

I don't know how old these guys are. I don't think I see a yolk sac but they are soo tiny and I don't know what I'm looking for. Should I feed them a couple specks of food today? They don't seem to swim much... Just short bursts and then kind of "stick" to whatever they touch first and hang there.

Should I do the water change right after I feed them? How much should I remove each time? 

Sorry for all the questions... I am very grateful for any information you can pass along!


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