Baby Fry (platy)

[newcastlelas]

I have about 50 baby fry all different ages but, 2 of them are the biggest and oldest I have had them for just over a month in a little breeder tank (the ones that attach to the side of your main tank).

One of them is about 2cm - 2.5cm and the other one is maybe just a little smaller but....The smaller one has a bent spine (birth defect I assume) but it can swim and always knows when its lunch time so I think it will survive.

Am just wondering when is the best time to put them in the main tank. I know the whole rule on 'as long as it’s bigger than the biggest fish's mouths' but.. I have a dwarf frog in my tank and his mouth is pretty big! ...

Also in the past 2 weeks or so they haven’t grown much, is it possible the fish can only grow to a certain size because of the little breeder tank I have kept them in?

Thanks in advance

Leann

 

[newcastlelas]

Any suggestions, at all

 

[Nick16]

rule of thumb is as long as they are bigger than the mouth of the biggest fish in there they should be ok? what is in the tank you are putting them into. i just put a home bred baby platy in my main tank and it has a bent spine. it was about 2cm

 

[newcastlelas]

rule of thumb is as long as they are bigger than the mouth of the biggest fish in there they should be ok? what is in the tank you are putting them into. i just put a home bred baby platy in my main tank and it has a bent spine. it was about 2cm

I have 4 adult platy's .. 1 dwarf frog and 1 loach, they should be ok should it?

 

[Nick16]

yes, if you have some hiding places, they should be fine, if you think they are both a similar size put them both in so that can keep each other company

 

[newcastlelas]

yes, if you have some hiding places, they should be fine, if you think they are both a similar size put them both in so that can keep each other company

hmm, am not sure if there is alot of hiding places i only have a couple of orniments.. but my frog seems to hide in there. am just worried thats all because my fish gave birth again 2 days ago and a saw the frog eat some of the newborns before i got a chance to catch them.. i will wait another week just incase just out of the 50 fry i have i only really wanna keep a couple and give the rest away or give them to my LFS. so if there is anybody in newcastle *UK* that would like any let me know

Thanks,

 

[Mikaila31]

release a couple of them if they are still their a couple days later I would say they are big enough.

 

[newcastlelas]

Here is what one of them look like compared to the 2 week old fry and the 3 day old fry.. (i also have only 2 Dalmatian molly survivors from my ich outbreak a few weeks ago!! YEY, you can see them in the background).

Oh and this is my frog, he is about 3inch no more

 

[LauraFrog]

Well how wide is the frog's mouth?

Your other option, the more sensible one IMO if you now have fifty fry, is to set up a growout tank. If you have fifty baby fish, they simply will not grow if confined to a breeder net. Also, if they do get big enough to be allowed into the main tank, your tank will be severely overstocked long before all fifty have gotten large enough for an LFS to be interested in them. In my experience they generally don't want platies until they are about 2 inches long or close to it. If they do take them sooner than this, they will not pay you or offer credit, and as soon as you walk out they will use them as a treat for some young oscars. You'd be lucky to get paid even for adults IMO. Pet stores are pretty tight.

If you have more fry than you can keep, the best thing to do for them is to set up a growout tank. It's not really hard, or that expensive. You get a 15-odd gallon plastic container ($15) a cheap heater ($15) a cheap internal canister filter ($10) some cheap plastic ornaments to provide hiding places ($10). Then you set it up and add fry. There's no need to light it or use a glass tank. This isn't a display. A better option is generally to divide the tank or else use separate tanks, and as soon as some of the fry start to show that they are male, separate them from the females. (In your case, this is to avoid having yet more fry. In mine, both for the above reason and to control linebreeding.)

Growout tanks are cheap, not hard to maintain, and you can net out any suitably sized fish and take them into the LFS to trade (five or six young platies is usually enough to secure you any common fish of your choice). There may come a point, however, when you have to start culling, either because you get a high rate of bent spines and other deformities or because you just have too many. It's easiest to do this with newborns, I just leave them in the main tank. When my growout tanks are overstocked, I just don't save the fry that are born in my main tank. It does sound heartless, I know, but it may end up the only option. Have a look at it though: Even assuming that the female only had 20 fry each drop, and her first drop was at five months, that's 400 fry over a two year lifespan. If just two of those survive to adulthood in the wild, she has replaced herself and the father of the fry. Since livebearer populations are relatively stable in the wild, that's an average of two fry per adult female that survive to breeding age themselves. You aren't really being heartless at all. You're under no obligation to care for every baby fish that is born in your tank. It's a nice addition to the hobby but if you don't have infinite space, time and money it might end up logistically impossible to save all of them.

Good luck with the ones you have!

Laura

 

[newcastlelas]

Av added them in i hope they will be ok.. they seem happy enough!.. lots of room for them to explore now haha

 

[newcastlelas]

Av added them in i hope they will be ok.. they seem happy enough!.. lots of room for them to explore now haha

Frog ate my baby orange fish while doing a water change so av put the other one back in the breeder box

 

[three-fingers]

Just to say, that's not a dwarf frog.
It is growing to grow quite a bit bigger and eat adult platies too - in fact, all the fish you have listed for your tank will eventually be eaten.

 

[newcastlelas]

Just to say, that's not a dwarf frog.
It is growing to grow quite a bit bigger and eat adult platies too - in fact, all the fish you have listed for your tank will eventually be eaten.

Well am hoping to upgrade my tank soon so.. i will keep my frog in my little tank anyway.. and if my fry keep on increasing the way they are haha it should really matter haha..

and am sure it is a dwarf, the place i got it from is a genuine fish store.. so i dont think they would lie about it oh well..

 

[Mr Bliss]

and am sure it is a dwarf, the place i got it from is a genuine fish store.. so i dont think they would lie about it oh well..

They may not lie on purpose (although that's not unheard of) but they may not know what they're talking about. It's often surprising (and disheartening) to see how much of the "information" given by LFS employees is flawed or just plain wrong.

 

[newcastlelas]

and am sure it is a dwarf, the place i got it from is a genuine fish store.. so i dont think they would lie about it oh well..

They may not lie on purpose (although that's not unheard of) but they may not know what they're talking about. It's often surprising (and disheartening) to see how much of the "information" given by LFS employees is flawed or just plain wrong.

Oh well if thats the case i will just keep it by its self in that tank i have once i have gettin a bigger tank, and the proper name for the frog is albino xenopus frog . av just googled it yer it probably will get alot bigger.. but am not worried am sure i can keep it under control.