Normal for fry to stay at the top?

[DoberMom]

Hello,

I had an unplanned breeding (male got out of his holding cell inside my tank). My two crowntail have bred and the fry are about 4 days old now. When I saw them in the bubble nest, there must have been hundreds. First off, like I had said, it was unplanned, so I have gravel at the bottom of the tank, 5 ghost shrimp that wont be caught and a sponge filter inside the tank. I've already removed the parents. I turned on the sponge filter on day 3 after the fry became free swimming, but after that, I can only see about 20 fry left. I cant tell if there are fry at the bottom and if there are, what are the chances that they've been eaten by the shrimp? As for the surviving, they only stay at the surface of the water. I've been doing my research and trying to find information so that I can keep these babies alive. When I looked up what the free swimming fry should look like, the videos depict them all over the tank, not just at the top. I'm worried. I've assembled my hatchery for the brine shrimp and for the past 2 days have been putting them in the tank. I havn't seen the fry eat at all but the shrimp eventually clear up. I'm wondering if the fry are eating, if the BBS just fall to the bottom and get eaten by the shrimp, or if they're just being caught in the filter. Ugh... I didn't want to breed because I didn't want to deal with all of this but here I am. Now I just want to do right by the fry.

Please help me.

[BettaHeart]

brine shrimp sometimes swim around at the top towards the light so some maybe eating those, straining and rinsing the brine shrimp is good too. it is common for fry to stay at the top just keep the air above humid since their labyrinth organ can get damaged from dry cool air.
umm... what else..... an airstone siphon for water changes and drip method for the aged conditioned water ....

watching betta fry grow is very rewarding
best of luck on your babies....
clean warm water and good food make for happy healthy babies

[Fabian]

What shrimp are you using because some shrimps will eat the fry.

[BettaHeart]

5 ghost shrimp as stated

[MrVampire181]

For the first two weeks yes fry will stay at the top then begin searching for food and swimming elsewhere.

[DoberMom]

Thank you for the responses. They are so little. I have about 50 in a 5gal tank but they all seem to disappear so well. I just hope they survive.

[DoberMom]

These are the parents:

[BettaHeart]

pretty
seeing that they are both ct the fry that are disappearing could be weak genetically
just saying ct X ct = slightly higher cases of deformities so just keep an eye on the ones that are still alive as you may need to cull some if they are deformed.
All in all beautiful fish
hope to see the babies grow

[DoberMom]

Wow there is just so much I don't know! Thanks for the info. I wonder, if I ever wanted to breed again, I love the look of the crowntails, what would be the best mix to keep the CT look?

[tpocicat]

All I know is that some of the members of IBC told me that crowntails aren't for beginners to breed. That's why I stay away from crowntails (for now).