At 3 months old Paula..... that platy should almost be adult size and be fine to place with the other adults.... then you can put your new fry in the breeding net.....
Welcome to the forum.
Thank you
A 3 month old platy will more than fend for himself in with the adults, it's actually quite nice to watch him cope on his own with adults (your baby is all grown up!). As long as you don't have any fish much bigger than a platy, if he can't fit in the mouth of another fish, he won't go in. That'll free up your breeding net.
Thank you Allan. It is exciting watching the babies grow, i'm just so clueless i worry about them so much
I've only had two sets of platy fry so far, expecting my first 2 sets of guppy fry in the next 24-48 hours. In my experience, after the first 4-5 weeks, the fry are pretty much as self sufficient as the adults. They are hardier than we give them credit for. They fend for themselves from birth in the wild, so separating them from the adults for the first 4 weeks or so until they're too big to be eaten is really all they need. Regular water changes (daily if possible) will speed up their growth, as apparently (so i've read on here) they release hormones which slow their own growth, so keeping that diluted helps them along quicker.
8 fry from my first platy set survived. I released two into a friends tank as soon as they were big enough to not be eaten. I noticed they grew considerably quicker than the remaining 6 in the fry tank, who remained there until they were big enough to give to a LFS. I think the relative safety of a fry tank meant that they grew slower. Once in a community tank, they are literally the little fish in a big pond, and it is my belief that this encourages growth (survival of the fittest and all that). Having said this, when you release them, don't do it unless you are 100% sure they won't be eaten (i found myself chasing 9 fry around my community tank the first time round, one didn't make it). In the future, i would release one to begin with and observe, standing by with a net to catch the fry again if needs be.
Good luck with your new fry. It is very rewarding raising fry, watching them swim off into the community tank for the first time and not be bothered by the other fish is a nice feeling.
