baby moores

Question
i have had a moore fish now for about 2 months everything was ok i put her in a breeding tank because she was about to give birth which she did to about 28.  18 of them survived, 10 of them where dead.  a day later i cleaned out the baby tank to get all the dead ones out and then one by one they all started to die. there is only 2 left out of 18 in one day i was wondering what i did wrong and if it had to do with there eating habits because i am new at all this baby fish stuff so i hope this is enough info and i hope you can tell me what i did wrong thanks and hope to hear from ya soon..

Answer
Hi Dixie.  There is no way for me to tell you "why" your fish died, but I can give you some pointers for any still alive and/or for the future.

First off, you have to make sure that your water is in pristine condition.  If you do not have a master water test kit, you really need to get one so that you can check your water parameters and make sure they stay within acceptable ranges (it will tell you in the kit).  You need to change at least 20% of the water every other day when you have fry in order to help keep them healthy.

Second, you need to buy the right food for the fry.  You can buy food called "First Bites", or any food that is meant for new fry.  The best thing to feed new fry though is newly hatched baby brine shrimp.  You can also buy frozen brine shrimp and thaw it out in some tank water then feed it to them.  Your local fish store should be able to help you out with food too.

You should also do research on raising fry too, because the more knowledge you have about them, the better off you are.

I hope this helps.  Good luck!!!     ;o)