Please help me not to loose my BN babies!!

Hello everyone,

I have 1F albino BN and 1M common BN in a 10G with gravel. Filter is Aqua Tech 5-15 . There are 4 baby platies in there also.
I make 20% water changes every 2 weeks, I use Tetra Aqua Safe to treat the water, temp. is stable at 24° C (75°F).
Because of my ignorance at first and my inability to find a test kit at this time (I live in Mexico and employees at Fish stores have no idea what I talk about when asking for the water test kits), I have never tested the water.
At the beginning I lost quite a few fish, but then they stopped dying. My male BN was the one survivor of that time.
My BN have been together since October, when I bought the female.
Anyway, about a month ago I decided to learn about fish so I joined this forum and I have been reading since then.
I know that a 10G is way too small for my BN, so it was a big surprise for me when a week ago, a found eggs on the tank. I didn't do anything to get my BN to spawn but I decided to give it a try and put the eggs in a small acrylic box with an air stone. I was not optimistic at all.
So it was an even bigger surprise to find that the eggs hatched today. I believe there are 50+ babies.
These little guys are great and I would hate to loose them, so now I would like to buy a bigger tank for my fish.
However, I have no idea on how to do this, I have lots of questions about the change.

1. Can I assume my tank is cycled?
2. If it is, how can I change my fish to the new tank without having to cycle it?
3. Would it be safe for the babies to be moved to the new tank?
4. What size would you recommend?
5. Are live plants a good idea for my new tank? Which and how many would be good for someone like me?
6. Can someone recommend a place (and also a brand) to buy a water test kit in El Paso, Tx, USA?

I guess I will have more questions if I buy the thank.

Thank you for reading, I hope someone can help me.

Alonso

Hi Alonso,
First, congratulations on hatching those eggs!

Lets see, most likely your tank is cycled by now. You do need to test to be sure. Tetra makes a fairly accurate and easy "all in one" product called "EasyStrips" that give you 6 different parameters on one dip strip. One thing it doesn't test for is ammonia, I would suggest a liquid test kit for that. You should be able to find the dip strips locally or order them online.

I would increase your water changes to perhaps 20% to 30% every week or even 2x a week. BN are very sensitive to organics and produce a good deal of waste. Keeping the tank very clean is especially important with fry. I have never hatched BN eggs away from the male, so hopefully someone else will advise on caring for them until they start eating, and when they can be put into your main tank.

A 10 gal is small, but can be used while the babies are tiny. You will need to cover the filter intake with sponge, fine netting, or nylon stocking to avoid sucking up the babies. When you get a second tank, transfer some/all of the gravel from the 10gal into it, and also put the used filter media into the new filter/or transfer the old filter directly onto the new tank. This should serve to give you an instant cycle, but again you should test to be sure.

Plants are great, most any aquatic plant that appeals to you will work. Some need to be buried in the gravel (sometimes BN will uproot them), some attach to driftwood, and some grow floating. Which plants are best depends on how much light your tank gets.

As far as size, bigger is always better, so it depends on what you want to spend and how much room you have. If these babies survive, you will need to find homes for most of them, and rest assured your pair will lay more eggs very soon. If you give the male a cave he will do the work of incubating them for you. When your platys grow, they will also probably eat newly emerging baby BN, though if you provide hiding some will likely survive.

I hope this is some help, by all means post any more questions you may have.
Good luck with the little guys! Sarah

Hi Alonso,Congrats on the babies.The babies will live off of their egg sacks for about a week,so they will not need any food till then.After about a week you need to supply them with a slice of cucumber/zucchini,tinned green beans,algae wafers etc.They will be o.k in the 10 gallon for maybe a month but it will need to be kept very clean with at least once a week maintenance and water changes and,as sarah said,twice a week would be better.
The gravel will need vaccing every week and maybe even twice a week depending on how dirty it looks.This can be a challenge when there are a lot of very small babies in the tank.Keep the babies in their tub for at least 10 days before letting them into the tank and if it is big enough and there is plenty of room for them,i would keep them in there as long as i could up to 3 weeks but only if it is big enough and can be kept clean.
Have you got any wood in the tank?


Bristlenoses

Thank You Sarah, Bristlenoses

I got a 37G tank and moved my fish to their new home, they all seem to be fine; also, tomorrow I will receive an API test kit a friend of mine bought for me so I will finally be able to make tests in my tank.
Unfortunately for me and my fish, it seems that every time I learn something new it’s just to realize I ignore a lot more.
I don’t have any wood in my tank and I had no idea I need to have some, either.
What kind of wood do I need? Again, people at pet store have no clue about this and I am lost.
When I make test on my tank, what the readings should be?

Thanks again.
Alonso

You should look for bog wood, or what is more commonly called driftwood. They sell it in fish shops and online. Malaysian is softer, so I'd go with that if you only buy one type. There is also an African Mopani wood that is very dense and heavy, and also quite pretty.

Your readings should be zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and a low but detectable level of nitrate. If your nitrates are very high, it just means a water change is needed (as long as the other values are zero).

I know the feeling- the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know!

Good luck and ask more if this isn't clear.

Sarah