Cleaning hatching tank

NicoleC · #1 09/01/2004, 11:46 AM

I only have 3 or 4 YWG hatchlings, so every one is precious and they are too tiny to see without searching long and hard. I need to clean their tank a bit, but how does one go about it without sucking up the fresh larvae? They are not particularly attracted to light, so I can't bait them to the other side of the tank.

I thought about using a filter over the siphon hose -- just a little 1/4" airline hose so suction won't be too strong -- but then that won't get the grunge off the bottom. Is that an acceptable compromises, or does anyone have a better idea?

Vert20 · #2 09/01/2004, 01:06 PM

Maybe you might want to transfer the babies to a holding tank. use your tubing, put your finger over the upper end and place it as close to the baby as you can. take your finger off the end, and they should be pulled up into the tube. Cover the end back up and transfer to a specimen container with their tank water in it. Repeat as necessary.

Just a thought.

NicoleC · #3 09/01/2004, 01:55 PM

Good idea, for when they are bigger, but right now they are so small I have a hard time finding any. I'm not even sure how many I have.

rsman · #4 09/01/2004, 04:49 PM

your next best bet might be a razor blade

scrape away very small areas and use your thumb to trap what you scrape to the blade cleaning the blade often in a seperate container the more junk on the tank the more often you should clean the blade, itll kick up junk but you should be able to remove alot

NicoleC · #5 09/01/2004, 05:08 PM

It's not that dirty yet; grunge is a overstatement. I just have a little dusting of debris on the bottom now. I'm more thinking about a water change to improve water quality. I am using Amquel, but that's just a safety net, IMO.

I'm not sure if it's good for water quality that I have so few larvae, or bad because I'm still feeding lots of rotifers so that they are good and available for the larvae I do have.

Maybe I'll just do a little water changes with a filter over the hose, and worry about stuff on the bottom later when it's more of a problem?

oceanarus · #6 09/02/2004, 08:56 AM

When cleaning the bottom of tanks like that I use an airline tube for the cleaning hose. You can keep your finger over the other end to regulate/stop flow to keep from sucking up the babies. At this point you should be pretty safe siphoning from the bottom of the tank as the YWG fry will not settle out to the bottom until they hit metamorphosis at about 3 to 4 weeks old.

NicoleC · #7 09/02/2004, 11:16 AM

I did see one hanging out and swimming near the bottom -- not on the bottom, but about 1/4" above.

Anyway, I did the airhose with filter last night for about a 15% water change and all seemed to go well.