Fry & Current Flow

[slicksta]

I have a pair with week old fry in a 40 gallon with a Marineland Eclipse canopy that is an all in one light/pump/filter. I'm not using the pump and filter for anything more than water circulation and have the flow reduced down to 25%.
I was concerned about too much current as I know most use an air/sponge filter in this situation. But shortly after free swimming I noticed that the parents moved all to the corner of the tank with the most current. They pretty much stay in that corner and when the fry are not attached to the parents they are in the current flow doing the tread mill.
I'm thinking this is a good thing as being active builds strength.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts?

[Dee1958]

I have a pair with week old fry in a 40 gallon with a Marineland Eclipse canopy that is an all in one light/pump/filter. I'm not using the pump and filter for anything more than water circulation and have the flow reduced down to 25%.
I was concerned about too much current as I know most use an air/sponge filter in this situation. But shortly after free swimming I noticed that the parents moved all to the corner of the tank with the most current. They pretty much stay in that corner and when the fry are not attached to the parents they are in the current flow doing the tread mill.
I'm thinking this is a good thing as being active builds strength.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts?

My fry don't seem to mind the filter outflow and I'm running a ac110. Dee

[Second Hand Pat]

I have a pair with week old fry in a 40 gallon with a Marineland Eclipse canopy that is an all in one light/pump/filter. I'm not using the pump and filter for anything more than water circulation and have the flow reduced down to 25%.
I was concerned about too much current as I know most use an air/sponge filter in this situation. But shortly after free swimming I noticed that the parents moved all to the corner of the tank with the most current. They pretty much stay in that corner and when the fry are not attached to the parents they are in the current flow doing the tread mill.
I'm thinking this is a good thing as being active builds strength.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts?

If the fry are having issues you can build a weir using batting to spread the flow and make it more gentle. I did that with the contest fry. Here's the post from my contest showing that.

I want to slow the flow on the AC filter so I did a little DIY with some quilt batting and built a weir to soften the flow of water back into the tank. It actually seems to work pretty well.

Attachment 118488

and with a prefilter on the inlet we may be set to use the AC filter with the fry.

Attachment 118489

I also added a sponge filter from another tank. Cleaned it really well but there always seems to be a little gunk left. I will siphon that out later and may top off the tank with a little RO water. While I do not have an RO unit for the fish I do have an under the sink RO unit for drinking water. One concern I have is Al's fry not liking my water. However I will measure the water parameters first.

Attachment 118490

Pat

[slicksta]

Thanks Pat... And yes I similarly reduced the output current with the use of sponges. I have it down to about 25%... but I can easily restrict it further.
My concern is though the fry seem to be enjoying the exercise and I see them mostly in the corner with the most flow, could they be too young for that much physical exertion?
I thought it quite curious that the parents moved them from the area of least flow to the area of most flow as soon as they were free swimming.

[CliffsDiscus]

You can add a sponge on the intake to slow the flow.
Sometimes the fry would be swimming against the
flow and forget to eat resulting in starvation this happens mostly night. So you may want to make a
count .

Cliff

[slicksta]

Thanks Cliff. . . that's the type of insight I was hoping to gain.
Too much of anything, even a good thing such as building strength can easily turn bad when left to the inexperienced no matter the species.
The output on this set up is easily adjustable and I can point the return flow in any direction in seconds. I'll just change it up a few times during the day and possibly reduce the flow even further at night. This way they can get a little rest and food in-between looking for the new current sweet spot.
As a child I would stay out all day playing without food if it was left up to me... So I can't give the fry any fault.
Good thing for me that I had an Italian mother that made sure that I ate no matter what. :-D