Platy fry

[Zeldakitsune]

So apparently I bought a pregnant Sunburst Platy. I've had her for about a week and last night she gave birth. I came in when there were only 4 left (I witnessed my Black Phantom Tetra-named Snape eat one D and 3 have escaped underneath one of the plants and are still alive and there. I feed my fish tropical fish flakes, will the fry be able to survive to adulthood or is there any extra things I have to do? How long does it usually take for the fry to be big enough to not be eaten by my larger fish?

 

[Newman]

it usually takes a month so they got a long way to go...they should be fast enough in a few days, but you gotta make sure they're getting fine food or they wont make it in your fast-paced tank lol.

 

[bassbonediva]

If I were you, I'd see if I could catch them and put them at the very least into a breeder box hanging on the side of the tank. Or, if you have an extra small tank sitting around, put them in that. I have two platy fry (a sunset coral dwarf and a marigold variatus) in a 1gal pet carrier thing and six platy fry (a mix of the sunset corals and marigold variati...still too small to definitely tell them apart) in a breeder box hanging in one of my 10gals. The six in the breeder box were a total surprise I found while tearing down my 20gH "Tank of Doom" (lost eight fish within two weeks out of that stupid tank for no apparent reason!). There were originally 13 that I caught, but they've been slowly dying off.

 

[Zeldakitsune]

First off, I didn't intend that to be a smiley..I wanted a 'D:' face

Fine food? What do you mean? I try to grind up my tropical fish flakes up more than usual in *hopes* it might reach them.

I've heard about breeder tanks. Are they inexpensive? Could I get one after school and still save my little ones? Or could I possibly make a temporary one with duct tape/or clips and tupperware? Baby fish are always pleasant surprises though :3 Tank of Doom? You don't know what the problem is?

 

[Doomhed]

the breeder net things are around $2-3 at walmart and are great for raising fry safely.

for an extra tank you used to be able to purchase an air pump, "hamster cage" locking top and a 10 gallon tank with air lines and a few airstones for a grand total of around $35.

you might be able to get a better deal on one of the combo kits for around $40, but they would all be far smaller than a 10 gallon.

 

[littletankbigworld]

Craigslist.org or Ebay.com are good places to get cheap tanks.

 

[Zeldakitsune]

Is it harmful to the fry if I net them into an alternate tank?

 

[littletankbigworld]

It depends. If they are very small and were born within a couple weeks, the stress from the move could kill them. I once moved 30 babies from my community tank to a fry tank and lost all of them but 7. I would keep them in the breeder's box for a little while longer...

 

[actiondave13]

you defitantly want to seperate them if you can..I had 22 platy fry and just about everykind of fish will eat them. I was able to keep 12 alive by putting my bigger fish in different tanks...if u can't do that then I would try to catch the fry..even at 2 months one of mine got eaten because I thought he was big or fast enough to surrive w/ other fish..rule is if the fry are smaller than the other fish's mouths don't put them toghter. I finally added them into my main tank at 3 months and they are doing great. Grind up your flake food in a plastic bag to get it as fine as u can..or u can by first bites from your lfs...good luck

 

[littletankbigworld]

Yes, you must separate them no matter what. I recommend the breeders box/net until the fish are a tad bit larger. Since you only have four, a medium breeder's box/net will work. They'll be fine in there for awhile.

 

[Zeldakitsune]

Well they're still in the big tank with all of the other fish. None of them have died yet, but they definitely avoid the bigger fish. One actually got sucked up into the filter (thankfully I was there to see it). I'm just scared they'll get stressed and die if I move them into a breeders box or a different tank.

 

[littletankbigworld]

They won't die if you move them to a breeder's box. They might die if you move them to another tank. Move them to a breeder's box. No matter how hard they try, it will be difficult to avoid the other fish.