Glofish fry, water too cold?

Nepherael

Nepherael

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May 11, 2012
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Warsaw, IN
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Brandon
So I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-100 glofish fry starting to hatch as of about 3 days ago and are starting to become free swimming. They are in a 10g filled about 40%. Here's the problem. I'm using a sponge filter and I'm worried there isn't enough water circulation or something. The water feels cooler than my 50g which on the strip says about 78 (colored from 76-80 but noticeably about 78) and the strip on the 10g says 74-76 even though the water isn't high enough to cover that whole strip I'm inclined to believe it.

I'm using a submersible heater that is supposed to be about 78 degrees and it is new as of a week ago (I exchanged the same heater out last week because it wasn't working but it was years old so I don't think the new one is that crappy after just a week of use. It is tetra brand and I used the same heater to heat my 10g when it was full before I upgraded to my 50g). It does work, it turns on and off, but why is it not heating very well ? Is it not enough circulation? Should I buy an adjustable one from my lfs (cheapest is 30 bucks and I honestly don't even ave that much to blow right now)?

If you think I should get another and say I have to wait at least 6 days what's your bet on the survivability of the fry? I can keep doing water changes to keep temp up but I can't do them more than once a day so that won't keep temp right all day. How will they do at about 75 degrees (let's say 74 as the worst case)? Can they survive and thrive until I can give them what they need?
 
I think I'll be ok. I added water to make it about 6g full, put a HOB filter on (covered the intake with panty hose so no fishes get sucked up) to move the water around more and I'll check the temp when I wake up and see where we're at
 
Why isn't the tank filled all the way? The less water you have in a tank, the quicker it gets dirty (with 50-100 fry, you will very quickly want all the actually water space you can give them), and the faster and more often the temperature fluctuates. It's also hard for heaters to heat small amounts of water properly, and when you're using a non-adjustable heater, you don't have the ability to raise the temp if it's staying too low.

Does the tank have a top on it? Not using a top will also make the water temperature fluctuate.

That aside, I'd be very surprised if you saw any problems from temps that are remaining in the mid 70's.
 
oo7genie said:
Why isn't the tank filled all the way? The less water you have in a tank, the quicker it gets dirty (with 50-100 fry, you will very quickly want all the actually water space you can give them), and the faster and more often the temperature fluctuates. It's also hard for heaters to heat small amounts of water properly, and when you're using a non-adjustable heater, you don't have the ability to raise the temp if it's staying too low.

Does the tank have a top on it? Not using a top will also make the water temperature fluctuate.

That aside, I'd be very surprised if you saw any problems from temps that are remaining in the mid 70's.
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First off, Glofish are fine at normal room temps, although warmer temps can encourage faster growth. There are a couple of reasons to have fry, particularly Danio fry in shallow water. For one, in general a smaller volume of water means a higher density of food items. The less energy they expend swimming around looking for their food the faster they grow. You just need to change enough water. In the specific case of Danios, their eggs slowly sink after being scattered, and adults eat their own as fast as they can. The deeper the water, the longer the eggs are exposed.
 
I didn't realize the potential benefit of shallow water levels for fry. The other info I gave about heating small tanks still applies, regardless.

Even if I had known though, I would probably still have recommended the same. I never assume someone else is going to keep up on extra frequent water changes, and all the fry I've raised (granted, all cichlids), have thrived in larger tanks filled to the brim.
 
It's about efficient production. The best way to do it is small spaces with large water changes. I currently have a group of about 20 Blue Gularis fry that are currently around 3/4" long in about a half gallon of water. And that's split between two containers for safety, not water quality. If the little devils would grow evenly or not eat each other they'd still all be in the same 1qt container for a bit longer.
 
Be careful about what you post in public. Glofish are a patented and trademarked fish and the intentional spawning and more importantly selling of these fish is a violation of U.S. patent law. You could be sued. But unless you are doing it en masse its not very likely.

Andy
 
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Narwhal72 said:
Be careful about what you post in public. Glofish are a patented and trademarked fish and the intentional spawning and more importantly selling of these fish is a violation of U.S. patent law. You could be sued. But unless you are doing it en masse its not very likely.

Andy
Click to expand...

Yes I learned this recently. I didn't know just spawning them was a problem though. I plan on getting a license and paying royalties like I should if I ever sell them to my lfs
 
Sub rosa pretty much called why it's low level. Also I kept the fish in lower levels of water because I read a few inches of water would induce spawning (they were only in the tank for maybe 3 hours though. Just used a knitting grate and the eggs fell right through.) and just hadn't added more after because of what I read about nutrition and feeding. And yes there's a top on it

Well I'm glad to hear they'll do just fine at a slightly lower temp. I'm just kinda stressing that I'm not doing things right because I'm new to all this so if I even doubt myself a bit I'm over here making a topic
 
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