# Turkey Baster + Fry



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Kinda embarrassing asking this question.
So the Bolivian Ram fry are almost free swimming and I want to catch them before they sneak out of their parents' protective range. 
My turkey baster seems to get them, but since they are heavier than water (I guess) they all seem to fall out as I'm moving the baster to the breeder box. 
Is there a secret to this?! Or is my $1 baster from Save-on-foods useless.... Seems to hold water ok.
Same with siphon, they somehow avoid getting sucked up.


----------



## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

your gonna have to remove the gravel vac portion of the siphon, it is useless for this , so with just the hose get a good 1-2 inches in the bucket siphoning out and then hover the hose over where the freeswimming fry are over , bigger the hose 'diameter" around the more water and suction

make sure there is some water in the bucket first or the speed in which the fry go rocketing out may kill them if they get sm,ashed on the bucket rather than a water buffer


----------



## mcrocker (May 29, 2010)

Yup, +1 for siphoning them, I've siphoned lots of fry and it seems to be the way to go.

I do it with a $5 siphon rod I got from here for beer brewing: Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, Vancouver, BC. (East Vancouver, Hastings street) It's perfect because they have a long clear rigid tube connected to the hose, so you can reach the fry at the bottom of a deep tank, or a regular tank without getting wet. Plus you don't get fish attacking your hand, probably not an issue with rams though


----------



## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

I suck up angel fry all the time. I suck them up and turn the baster horizontally so the fry don't fall out. Like macframalama says make sure there's water in the bucket.


----------



## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

Thats bloody brilliant, im am stealing your idea. this is why we should have a more active DIY section, as simple and as you know like basic that is , that is a great idea, i love it , do you know how many times i have had my hands bitten while removing fry , ocassionally i have lost blood lol

but had you posted that as simple as it is , thats the best idea i have heard of in a while.... awesome. I think the DIY section would greatly benefit if we posted things we adapt on a daily use type of basis because all the mods and tweeks that work for one person could solve someone elses headache.



mcrocker said:


> Yup, +1 for siphoning them, I've siphoned lots of fry and it seems to be the way to go.
> 
> I do it with a $5 siphon rod I got from here for beer brewing: Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, Vancouver, BC. (East Vancouver, Hastings street) It's perfect because they have a long clear rigid tube connected to the hose, so you can reach the fry at the bottom of a deep tank, or a regular tank without getting wet. Plus you don't get fish attacking your hand, probably not an issue with rams though


----------



## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

Lamplighter said:


> I suck up angel fry all the time. I suck them up and turn the baster horizontally so the fry don't fall out. Like macframalama says make sure there's water in the bucket.


my name on here is so long and stupid lol I should see if i can just get it cut down to mac, or shawn, lol i used such a long bunch of bs because i figured simple ones would be taken lol


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Well, that was depressing. Taking off the gravel vac section worked but the suction was faster than I expected that I shot myself in the mouth, face, nose, and a good part of my carpet with water. Then afterwards when I poured the fry into the breeding box, all but one of the bunch fell through and some got gobbled up by my nonstop eating gourami and sae. Argh. The rams are clearly being better parents. I'm going to leave the fry alone for a couple more days.


----------



## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

oh good grief lol, yeah a breeder box wont work.. must have missed that in the previous post... umm a net breeder will but i dunno if you have one i know petsmart sells them here 

or another bare 5 gal even with bubble sponge filter or a reg filter with a sponge over hte intake..

or you could remove the gouramis and let the parents do the work for you ,


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Maybe I'll move the rummynose out of my shrimp tank and put the fry there... water conditions are kinda different though.


----------

