Live bearer fry

This will be her second batch of fry , I’ll do a better job this time and separate the fry once they are here. I only have 1 baby left from the 3 batches of fry in this tank , so my wife is on me this time to grow them. I’m expecting my velvet wag is pregnant too , not this far along tho. So I’m very excited for the up coming months I think with this batch we will try to bring them to the lfs. A couple months ago when I was in there I asked them and they said if they were healthy they would take them. Any suggestions on the best way to raise the fry? I’ve done it a few times but never really had much success as I have one baby who’s finally becoming a decent size.

If you have lots of floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) in the tank, the babies hide in there and you can scoop them out with a cup.

Having more plants in the tank will also help by providing more hiding places for the babies.

Plants plants plants and more plants not only do they provide hiding spots but they will encourage the growth of the yummy things that fry like to eat

They give birth hiding in amongst the plants so... plants, plants, plants.
Lots of them.
Fluffy plants aswell like the Myriophyllum types.

I scoop out my dwarf red coral fry from a well planted tank and grow them in a shrimp tank. I have 15 fry growing up in the shrimp tank. Last month I had 10 fry make it to juvenile status and I gave them to my lfs.

I actually have a question about this. Is it best to separate the gravid female before she gives birth? And then remove her after as she may eat them? Not sure if this is the case for all livebearers but that’s what I read about Mollys and just wondered how true that statement was.

My livebearer tank is densely planted and with each birth I have about 15 fry that make it to adulthood. I do not separate the gravid females. The plants offer ample hiding spots accounting for their survival.

Sparx said:

I actually have a question about this. Is it best to separate the gravid female before she gives birth?

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Nope, that's the worst thing you can do. Leave her alone, she's about to give birth. Catching her and moving her to a different tank (she doesn't know its safe) or to a tiny box floating out in the open, is frightening for her. It can kill her or cause premature birth and stillbirths.
The best thing to do is to leave her alone and let her choose somewhere to hide, in the tank that she lives in and knows it's safe.

Good to know, thanks

Sparx said:

I actually have a question about this. Is it best to separate the gravid female before she gives birth? And then remove her after as she may eat them? Not sure if this is the case for all livebearers but that’s what I read about Mollys and just wondered how true that statement was.

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Mollies, platies and guppies don't normally eat their babies unless they are really hungry. Swordtails can eat their young but are much less likely to if the adults are well fed and the tank has plenty of hiding places for the babies.