Multie fry, woot! Heating and hiding question

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I

inssane

Gambusia
MFK Member
May 27, 2010
439
1
16
Chicago
10gallons with a mated pair of multies inside.
I have tons of shells, and a little shale cave stack in the corner. I just noticed about 10 fry about 5 days ago. It is now hard to keep track, and I know they are step breeders, so I am not sure if just a few hatched, then a few days later more hatched OR they are munching on the fry at night.

I have the black and white "African" sand and they are VERY hard to spot.
I want to turkey baste, lol, them out and put them into a 15 gallon.

I am jobless currently and don't have money for a heater this exact moment, but will in a week or so.
It's usually 79 in my place and it's 80s outside.

Will they be ok for a week without a heater?

Also, I want to go bare bottom and have some shells in there, maybe 10 or 15. Is this a wise choice?

I just want to find them, give them hiding spots, and for them to eat (they are eating now).

Let me know, I don't want to take my tank apart in a month or two and empty out each shell looking for them (In the tank with the pair that is).

And realistically, I would sell them here if people are interested, and a LFS can't get them, so they could use them.

Thanks
Nick
 
I don't know much about Shellies. But with my Haps and Peas I use fry tanks with bare bottoms. It is way easier to clean and do water changes. Plus while growing them out you do overfeed them allot and makes a mess out of substrate. So IMO bare bottom is best. Also feed them 4 to 6 times a day. They will grow out much faster. Rule of thumb is 1/10 the their body weight in food. Babies will eat all the time too.

Congrats and good luck
 
Man, I just put the baster in to see their reaction and those babies are FAST!
I may just have to bring the shells to the new tank.

Before reading your post I put a dusting of sand (it's pretty much bare bottom) in there and about 15 shells to hide in.
I think I will have to move shells between the tanks to get the babies out as they blend so well.

Any tips on catching babies? LOL

Next time I should just grab them right away, they were hiding in the mom's shell for a few days, now they are scattered, and homing other shells.
I was just excited to see all the interaction, lesson learned ha.
N
 
Move the shells, and replace the shells with new ones in your old tank. With shellies it is a must to have extra shells as you will end up selling pairs with shells because they will go in and not come out. As for temp 79 is enough. I would not worry about a heater in that case. What else is in the tank with the parents. I let my multies grow out and just catch them as they get larger. I shell them as small groups or pairs that way.
 
I will try to grab the shells and replace like you said. I have plenty of shells.
If I fail somehow, I will just let those grow out and siphon the new bunches as they come.

When these guys first showed up they didn't stray from mom's shell for two full days. If that is a consistency with fresh fry, it will be easy to siphon them.

I was thinking about getting another pair, but if I grow these babies I can have my own.

Aye, another PITA tank that I love too much, ha
 
That would be nice.
I will have to practice removing the fry though as I will be growing out the ones that I don't keep in there.'
Maybe I will play it by ear, but at least the grow tank is up and running
 
i would let them be until you decide to sell them. and at that point, the old egg crate trick gets them out of their shells.
 
You mind putting up a link on the egg crate trick?
They have taken over their own shells already, lol.
Too hard to catch, so I will grab them while older. I think I have about 10+ my last count at feeding.
 
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