curious newbie

[new_fry]

HI Everyone.... My husband thought it would be nice to get my 2 year old son a 20 gal freshwater tank and everything. It's been up and running for about 7 months now. We have 5 Mickey Mouse platies, 1 cory cat, and 1 pleco. We have only had one platy die on us out of all in this time. I have been reading every post on here sense I joined just so I wouldn't be asking too many repeated questions and I am sure I have missed some.
Well about a week and a half ago, we found "A" fry in the tank and no more yet. I don't even know which one had it. I do know I have one male platy and 4 females. The 2 white females both have fry that I can see in them but they don't look like they are about to pop by no means yet.
So far, I have been able to save the 1 fry and "it" is growing like a weed. He is in the same tank but seperated from the rest. I guess my question is.... when can I introduce him back into the tank with no restrictions? Not like there needed to be but I kinda freaked because I didn't know anything about them till now. My husband did all the work and knows about them but now I am getting interested and doing massive research on info.
I know there will be more fry coming and we are in the process of putting more plants in there and such for the other fry to hide when they come.
We do partial water changed every week.... test the water and all is good.... and I am feeding them flake food, brine shrimp, and even tried the "blood worm" ( I think that's what it is YUCK) LOL. But anyhow, anymore info would be great.
Sorry for being so long.
Thank you in Advance!

 

[brian1973]

Welcome to the tank and it is nice to see you have done your research thoroughly, basically the fry can be reintroduced when it is to big to fit in the others mouth say 1/2 in long to be safe, personally with your stocking I wouldnt worry about it because you are probably going to have some survive from future births and they can quickly overpopulate the tank.

Dont be worried about asking something even if has been asked before, the search feature can be a pain so sometimes it is easier to ask than to try and find it.

 

[BlueStraggler]

also hikari first bites are recommended for the fry.

You can feed flake food but crush it up into a fine powder-like food. They have teeny tiny mouths and if the flakes are too big it will go uneaten and foul up your tank.

 

[brian1973]

also hikari first bites are recommended for the fry.

You can feed flake food but crush it up into a fine powder-like food. They have teeny tiny mouths and if the flakes are too big it will go uneaten and foul up your tank.

I have never purchased any commercial fry food for platy, molly, or convict fry, they survive fine and if it is growing fast then it is getting food. It is amazing how big a piece of flake food fry can swallow, I have watched them do it, i just make sure I crush the flakes up more when feed.

 

[BlueStraggler]

you've bred a few! and you never bought HFB! lol. Thats a bit surprising but believable since those commercial fry foods are basically the same ingredients as the adult food.
maybe they are just fortified with special nutrients though that aid in growth?
Most breeders recommend them.
I've bought them and it is a fine powder.

 

[brian1973]

not to get off topic here but IMO they are a waste of money, why spend the extra money when you can smash up some flakes with your finger tip, there may be species that do require special foods but platies do not.

 

[Kissyboots]

not to get off topic here but IMO they are a waste of money, why spend the extra money when you can smash up some flakes with your finger tip, there may be species that do require special foods but platies do not.

First bites are a waste of money...if your fish eat crushed flakes! My first three swordtail fry died for some reason. Later I got the first bites and I successfully raised three of them. It depends, but try the crushed flakes first.

 

[new_fry]

Thank you for the advice. My one fry isn't a half inch yet but "he's" working on it. I guess I just got excited because it was the first one I had seen in the 7 months (maybe a little longer)sense we had set the tank up and got the platies. I figued if I went and saved everyone I saw, it would quickly get over crowded but this one was "special", it was the first one lol.
I have also read that male platies are usually smaller than females. Not in my case. My red male is actually alot bigger than my females especially the white mickey mouse ones.
The male is also chasing the one red female and one sunburst female away from the 2 white ones.... is this normal? He follows the white ones constantly. I have read that they will partner up, but this male won't leave them at all. It's funny when the 2 white females split up, he doesn't know which way to go. I will try to get pics soon.
Thanks again Everyone

 

[midmichman80]

Welcome to the tank. I have platies in my tank, and as long as you have a male and a female in the tank, your fish will continue to breed. This is not a big deal if you have extra tanks or some use for them(feeders), however if you don't plan on setting up more tanks you will find yourself soon over run with platy fry. I would get rid of the male in the tank to prevent any further insemintations, although I believe the platy females can store sperm for quite some time for use a later time, but you may want to double check that info. Another thought is to talk to your LFS and sell them your fry once they are big enough and get store credit. Just my two cents worth.

 

[homebunnyj]

I have also read that male platies are usually smaller than females. Not in my case. My red male is actually alot bigger than my females especially the white mickey mouse ones.
The male is also chasing the one red female and one sunburst female away from the 2 white ones.... is this normal? He follows the white ones constantly. I have read that they will partner up, but this male won't leave them at all. It's funny when the 2 white females split up, he doesn't know which way to go. I will try to get pics soon.
Thanks again Everyone

Are you absolutely sure you only have one male?

 

[new_fry]

I am pretty sure that I only have one male. He is the only one with the "male fin" (can't remember the correct name for it, sorry). The other 4 have the "female fin" in the back. I keep checking, thinking maybe I am seeing it wrong, but no fins have changed. I read that sometimes a male isn't developed enough and will look like he has a "female fin". Not too sure tho. But the one that I know is a male, is chasing the other red mickey and the sandfire mickey and I am pretty sure they are both females.
I just added some more plants to the tank for when the fry to arrive but yet to this day, I have only one fry.

 

[new_fry]

I am pretty positive that I have only one male according to the descriptions I have read on how to tell which is which between male and females. He is the only one who is different in the male aspect. I keep checking to make sure none have changed. I read somewhere that if they aren't sexually mature, it can be hard to tell the males and females apart but so far, it looks like one male and 4 females.
We just done some adjusting to the tank plant wise so when more fry show up, they have alot of hiding places.
I called the place I bought the platies from and asked if they would be willing work with store credit for the future fry and they said that they wouldn't so, I guess I will be getting another tank for him because I don't want to over populate the tank with platies.

 

[new_fry]

I'm pretty sure I only have the one male. At least that's what it looks like by the fins on the bottom. He is the only one with a "tube" like fin. The other four have fan like fins on the bottom. I read somewhere that if they aren't sexually mature tho it can be hard to tell? Is this correct? Altho, I have had all the same fish for approx 7 - 8 months now so I would think that they all would be sexually mature by now.
I guess I will have to get another tank for the male because the place I got them from won't do store credit and I don't want to over populate the tank.
I did however add some more plants to it so if and when fry do appear, they have some form of a chance for survival.

 

[brian1973]

just out of curiousity did you realize you posted three almost identical posts..lol.. any way check out some other LFS to see if they will take them for free or possibly post them on craigslist as feeders, with you current stocking you could easily have over 300 platys in 2 months, even if a few survive from each birth you are goingto get overpopulated rather quickly.

 

[new_fry]

I do appoligize for the 3 posts in a row. My son was in here with me on my lap and kept playing with the mouse and clicking it just as I was done typing and it didn't look like they went thru. I am truely sorry *embarassed* glad it's bedtime lol
I do agree, I am going to have to do something or else I am going to have platies coming out of my ears....LOL

 

[BlueStraggler]

I do appoligize for the 3 posts in a row. My son was in here with me on my lap and kept playing with the mouse and clicking it just as I was done typing and it didn't look like they went thru. I am truely sorry *embarassed* glad it's bedtime lol
I do agree, I am going to have to do something or else I am going to have platies coming out of my ears....LOL

lol it happens...glad my son is out of that stage.
Anyways its likely that your fish that you've had over 7 months has already had a few batches of fry that you did not notice. (They get eaten by the adult fish) I know that sounds creepy but that is their way of controlling population (and getting a little extra protein) lol.

 

[new_fry]

Well, I am still working on keeping the "ONE" fry that I did find, alive. It seems to be doing well as far as I can see and looks normal. But I don't think I need 300 of them in a couple months LOL
I think I will be getting another tank for my male ..... poor guy is gonna hate me LOL at least that's what my husband said.

 

[BlueStraggler]

Well, I am still working on keeping the "ONE" fry that I did find, alive. It seems to be doing well as far as I can see and looks normal. But I don't think I need 300 of them in a couple months LOL
I think I will be getting another tank for my male ..... poor guy is gonna hate me LOL at least that's what my husband said.

I think you are worrying about nothing honestly. The adults will eat the fry and I highly doubt 300 of them will come out of a single fish all at once.
Also, I don't believe you NEED to seperate your male.
These fish are commonly kept in a tank setting by people who never even know which ones are males and which ones are females.

 

[brian1973]

I think you are worrying about nothing honestly. The adults will eat the fry and I highly doubt 300 of them will come out of a single fish all at once.
Also, I don't believe you NEED to seperate your male.
These fish are commonly kept in a tank setting by people who never even know which ones are males and which ones are females.

I am going to disagree based on my experience with live bearers, while it is likely most have been eaten in the past, if enough hiding places are provided then a substantial amount may survive, figure platy's can have 1 to 100 fry (rough numbers not accurate) every 4 weeks for 3 months after one successful mating, multiply that by 4 females and there ya go. You also have to figure in that the males will attempt to mate almost constantly (hey their guys), then it is possible to have an over populated tank very quickly. Things that will increase survival are hiding places and if she delivers at night, this gives the fry time to escape. I have seen other fish follow a female giving birth and eat the fry as they came out but I have also seen well fed fish ignore the fry completely. My advice stands with seperate or return the male, also watch buying Mollies or swordtails because it is possible for them to breed with platy's as well.

 

[d3sc3n7]

Ok...I was busy yesteday and didnt touch my laptop all day. From what I can tell all your questions have been answered for the most part. I just want to say how nice it is to see a few things in your first post.

1: You included all needed information for us to come up with an answer
2: You clearly did your research and are pretty well aware of whats going on
3: You read up on the previous posts before posting yourself

However...I'll throw my 2c in. I'm agreeing with Brian here. I would pull the male out and either sell him too the LFS or someone else. The one issue you can run into with fry is they are able too breed pretty young, you may not know whos male whos female..so keep a close eye one them, if you plan on keeping them. When my tanks were up and running I had a 29G guppy tank. My stock level went sky high after 2 months of having them. I bought 15 guppies for the tank. I dumped a TON of them in my 55G to "play" with the tiger barbs. I just got rid of all my fish, and gave away probably about 70 guppies.

Thank you...and welcome to the tank