Day 1 - Adulthood

[FishLover4+1]

ahh my little baby is growing up!!!
i'm going away for the night tomorrow. my dad can feed him when he gets back from work he won't be back till 6:30, 7:30 so he won't wont be able to give Happy his 4:30 / 5:00 meal - is it ok if he just feeds him when he gets back??? and then again at his normal teatime (from 8:30 - 9:00) and he has his breakfast early??? or will he be hungry??? also i dont trust my dad wielding a net in Happys tank cos Happy is still quite small so can we leave any uneaten food in there???
and next week i'm going camping for 3 days will he be alright then??? (fed breakfast on day 1 and tea on day 2) i'll probably give him a bit extra and there's a plant in with him (that he's dug out of the pot).
and my new platy (and oranda) tank has been set up and cycling for a week yesterday - can i add the first fish??? (most likely Sweetie the oranda) if i can find the plastic bag i'll acclimatise her first but seeing as the tanks are in the same room, used the same tap water and tap water conditioner and food to add bacteria, do i need to???
thanks everyone!!

oh and the 2 pregnant platys look like they are turning into males - is it just me??? i'm a bit worried about the fry.

 

[comocrayfish5]

ahh my little baby is growing up!!!
i'm going away for the night tomorrow. my dad can feed him when he gets back from work he won't be back till 6:30, 7:30 so he won't wont be able to give Happy his 4:30 / 5:00 meal - is it ok if he just feeds him when he gets back??? and then again at his normal teatime (from 8:30 - 9:00) and he has his breakfast early??? or will he be hungry??? also i dont trust my dad wielding a net in Happys tank cos Happy is still quite small so can we leave any uneaten food in there???
and next week i'm going camping for 3 days will he be alright then??? (fed breakfast on day 1 and tea on day 2) i'll probably give him a bit extra and there's a plant in with him (that he's dug out of the pot).
and my new platy (and oranda) tank has been set up and cycling for a week yesterday - can i add the first fish??? (most likely Sweetie the oranda) if i can find the plastic bag i'll acclimatise her first but seeing as the tanks are in the same room, used the same tap water and tap water conditioner and food to add bacteria, do i need to???
thanks everyone!!

oh and the 2 pregnant platys look like they are turning into males - is it just me??? i'm a bit worried about the fry.

-feeding him at different times wont hurt him. usually feed my fry at 4 PM then at 8:30- 9 PM. i i have time in between getting ready for school i will feed them also at 6:30 AM but that is only sometimes.
-as long as his is in a breeder trap with holes for water flow/ a breeder net in a big tank i wouldnt worry about the food on the bottom. i had some guppy fry that were in a trap in my 20 gal and there was food at the bottom that i cleaned it every 3 days or so. (they are now with the other fry)
- if you are going away for 3 days make sure he is fed at the usual times. you dont want him to get so skinny that there is nothing you can do to stop him from dying....
-how big is your platy/ oranda tank? i would cycle it for at the least 2 months. and dont put orandas (or any goldies) with tropicals. the temp is too high and they WILL eat any fry they find. also gold fish are dirtier (i think thats debatable) than tropicals wich would be bad for the tropicals. and insead of putting food in the water (which would create a small amount of nitrates) stir up water in another tank and put some of the poop etc in there
- if the platies are turing male (butt fin is becoming smaller) then there might not be babies just keep an eye on the fin. one of me older fry's fin is a little smaller but it has been like that and she is not turning male.

 

[FishLover4+1]

ahh my little baby is growing up!!!
i'm going away for the night tomorrow. my dad can feed him when he gets back from work he won't be back till 6:30, 7:30 so he won't wont be able to give Happy his 4:30 / 5:00 meal - is it ok if he just feeds him when he gets back??? and then again at his normal teatime (from 8:30 - 9:00) and he has his breakfast early??? or will he be hungry??? also i dont trust my dad wielding a net in Happys tank cos Happy is still quite small so can we leave any uneaten food in there???
and next week i'm going camping for 3 days will he be alright then??? (fed breakfast on day 1 and tea on day 2) i'll probably give him a bit extra and there's a plant in with him (that he's dug out of the pot).
and my new platy (and oranda) tank has been set up and cycling for a week yesterday - can i add the first fish??? (most likely Sweetie the oranda) if i can find the plastic bag i'll acclimatise her first but seeing as the tanks are in the same room, used the same tap water and tap water conditioner and food to add bacteria, do i need to???
thanks everyone!!

oh and the 2 pregnant platys look like they are turning into males - is it just me??? i'm a bit worried about the fry.

-feeding him at different times wont hurt him. usually feed my fry at 4 PM then at 8:30- 9 PM. i i have time in between getting ready for school i will feed them also at 6:30 AM but that is only sometimes.
-as long as his is in a breeder trap with holes for water flow/ a breeder net in a big tank i wouldnt worry about the food on the bottom. i had some guppy fry that were in a trap in my 20 gal and there was food at the bottom that i cleaned it every 3 days or so. (they are now with the other fry)
- if you are going away for 3 days make sure he is fed at the usual times. you dont want him to get so skinny that there is nothing you can do to stop him from dying....
-how big is your platy/ oranda tank? i would cycle it for at the least 2 months. and dont put orandas (or any goldies) with tropicals. the temp is too high and they WILL eat any fry they find. also gold fish are dirtier (i think thats debatable) than tropicals wich would be bad for the tropicals. and insead of putting food in the water (which would create a small amount of nitrates) stir up water in another tank and put some of the poop etc in there
- if the platies are turing male (butt fin is becoming smaller) then there might not be babies just keep an eye on the fin. one of me older fry's fin is a little smaller but it has been like that and she is not turning male.

thanks they are variatus platys so live in an unheated tank with the oranda.
would Happy be ok with those food blocks you can get to put in tanks when your going on holiday or would they be a bit hard for him - i would break a little bit off to put in with him. my parents won't let me get someone to come and feed him - they seem to think it would be too much work for them. they won't even let the girl whos looking after the rabbits come twice a day to put them in and take them out of the run, so theyre going to have to stay in the run. (my dad made it so its more like a giant hutch than a run)

 

[comocrayfish5]

ahh my little baby is growing up!!!
i'm going away for the night tomorrow. my dad can feed him when he gets back from work he won't be back till 6:30, 7:30 so he won't wont be able to give Happy his 4:30 / 5:00 meal - is it ok if he just feeds him when he gets back??? and then again at his normal teatime (from 8:30 - 9:00) and he has his breakfast early??? or will he be hungry??? also i dont trust my dad wielding a net in Happys tank cos Happy is still quite small so can we leave any uneaten food in there???
and next week i'm going camping for 3 days will he be alright then??? (fed breakfast on day 1 and tea on day 2) i'll probably give him a bit extra and there's a plant in with him (that he's dug out of the pot).
and my new platy (and oranda) tank has been set up and cycling for a week yesterday - can i add the first fish??? (most likely Sweetie the oranda) if i can find the plastic bag i'll acclimatise her first but seeing as the tanks are in the same room, used the same tap water and tap water conditioner and food to add bacteria, do i need to???
thanks everyone!!

oh and the 2 pregnant platys look like they are turning into males - is it just me??? i'm a bit worried about the fry.

-feeding him at different times wont hurt him. usually feed my fry at 4 PM then at 8:30- 9 PM. i i have time in between getting ready for school i will feed them also at 6:30 AM but that is only sometimes.
-as long as his is in a breeder trap with holes for water flow/ a breeder net in a big tank i wouldnt worry about the food on the bottom. i had some guppy fry that were in a trap in my 20 gal and there was food at the bottom that i cleaned it every 3 days or so. (they are now with the other fry)
- if you are going away for 3 days make sure he is fed at the usual times. you dont want him to get so skinny that there is nothing you can do to stop him from dying....
-how big is your platy/ oranda tank? i would cycle it for at the least 2 months. and dont put orandas (or any goldies) with tropicals. the temp is too high and they WILL eat any fry they find. also gold fish are dirtier (i think thats debatable) than tropicals wich would be bad for the tropicals. and insead of putting food in the water (which would create a small amount of nitrates) stir up water in another tank and put some of the poop etc in there
- if the platies are turing male (butt fin is becoming smaller) then there might not be babies just keep an eye on the fin. one of me older fry's fin is a little smaller but it has been like that and she is not turning male.

thanks they are variatus platys so live in an unheated tank with the oranda.
would Happy be ok with those food blocks you can get to put in tanks when your going on holiday or would they be a bit hard for him - i would break a little bit off to put in with him. my parents won't let me get someone to come and feed him - they seem to think it would be too much work for them. they won't even let the girl whos looking after the rabbits come twice a day to put them in and take them out of the run, so theyre going to have to stay in the run. (my dad made it so its more like a giant hutch than a run)

i have'nt personally used to vacation foods so i dont know...you could portion out a 'large' ammout of food for him for the rabbit sitter to feed him

 

[FishLover4+1]

could i just give him the amount of food i normally put in with him for the meals he'll miss all at once at the beginning??? or would it create too much ammonia???

 

[comocrayfish5]

could i just give him the amount of food i normally put in with him for the meals he'll miss all at once at the beginning??? or would it create too much ammonia???

it would ruin he water quality and the food would start rotting. that would be like feeding you all meals from 3 day and make you eat them in one sitting just see if the rabbit sitter can feed him. how long will you be gone for?

 

[sadguppy]

You don't have to wait for the second tank to cycle if you can take some of the stuff out of your filter (say one sponge if there are two) and put it in your new filter. That way the bacteria are already there and you will have what's known as an instant cycle. You may get small short spikes but with note frequent water changes in both tanks for a few weeks you should be fine.

I would argue against holiday blocks, not feeding for a few days is far better. Fry barely eat anything anyway so a few small flakes before you go will give him something to dig around for, I am sure it won't cause an ammonia spike just a flake or two. The big fish will be perfectly fine. They would go for much longer in the wild without food. A holiday block can contaminate the water.

 

[FishLover4+1]

3 days (going away tomorrow and coming back thurs)
and the rabbit sitter doesnt have a key, she's just going through the back gate into the garden.
there is a plant in with Happy that i suppose he will munch.
i'll just have to Happy his food before he goes away and hope for the best.
Shimmer and Silver havnt dropped or got any fatter. are they pregnant???
thanks

 

[comocrayfish5]

Ok I think he will be fine being fed once. If yoh want he might smack on a piece of lettuce if you add that in there.
Your preto fish are probably pergnant but are not ready to drop. When they are ready to drop their butt will become square hense the phrase "squaring off" also their birth canal (I think that's what it is) will stick out more than usual therefore making it more square. After this happens she will drop in a day or so.

 

[FishLover4+1]

Ok I think he will be fine being fed once. If yoh want he might smack on a piece of lettuce if you add that in there.
Your preto fish are probably pergnant but are not ready to drop. When they are ready to drop their butt will become square hense the phrase "squaring off" also their birth canal (I think that's what it is) will stick out more than usual therefore making it more square. After this happens she will drop in a day or so.

she's been like that for a few days now but she still isn't very fat (no fatter than she was last week).

 

[comocrayfish5]

Ok I think he will be fine being fed once. If yoh want he might smack on a piece of lettuce if you add that in there.
Your preto fish are probably pergnant but are not ready to drop. When they are ready to drop their butt will become square hense the phrase "squaring off" also their birth canal (I think that's what it is) will stick out more than usual therefore making it more square. After this happens she will drop in a day or so.

she's been like that for a few days now but she still isn't very fat (no fatter than she was last week).

she will be like that for a little while. when my platies are getting prego, i do not count the days or anything like that. i just watch for the squaring off and then i divide the tank with the other fish on one side and the female and a male (for company and to hopefully mate after she gives birth).

 

[FishLover4+1]

got back yesterday at 7 pm. none of the holiday food was even touched (not using that brand again) but all the fish were fine. doesn't look like my platys gave birth but i had a moment of panic. Happy is eating normally (except he's polishing off all the food in record time - all gone in less than two hours rather than the normal 4-6 (i know you're supposed to remove food after 5 mins but he doesn't even start eating in that time)), so he's happy and healthy. i am never going on holiday when i have a fry again - i was so worried i was almost crying.
anyway, after a 1/3 water change today i have removed the net from the filter - i don't think any fry will be able to get past the foam - and taken out half the sponge, which i have put in my new tank, sandwiched between the sponges in that filter to hopefully spread bacteria, and i think i'll introduce Sweetie, my oranda, tomorrow.

by the way, to avoid confusion i'm going to stop putting platy instead of variatus platy, and put v platy so everyone knows that i'm not some nutter trying to keep tropical fish on coldwater.

 

[comocrayfish5]

well thats good. i have going of vacation with all my animals at home. i put all of the servings of food in their own little cup and write down when they are supposed to be fed. it is a lot of sticky notes and cups because there are 9 tanks-some with fry that must be fed several times a day- and there are like 4 different ways you have to put the food in to feed the animal.... i dont think it is that much work until i write it out and then i look at the page long description and go "wow that is a lot of detail for something i think is so simple"

 

[FishLover4+1]

well thats good. i have going of vacation with all my animals at home. i put all of the servings of food in their own little cup and write down when they are supposed to be fed. it is a lot of sticky notes and cups because there are 9 tanks-some with fry that must be fed several times a day- and there are like 4 different ways you have to put the food in to feed the animal.... i dont think it is that much work until i write it out and then i look at the page long description and go "wow that is a lot of detail for something i think is so simple"

haha i portioned out all the veggies for my bunnys into little plastic bags!!!!!

so do i need a bag to move my fish from tank a to tank b??? or could i just use a net??? i think today i'll add Sweetie the oranda.

also i think i'm going to buy one of those cheap starter tanks and get it set up for Happy. i'll use water from my current tank (where he is now) and if it's small enough put the sponge from the starter tank filter into the space where the sponge i put into the big tank normally goes. (does that make sense???) and leave it for a few days to get bacteria and then put it in the new tank (the little one) with Happy.

 

[OldMan47]

If both tanks get the same water change care and are the same temperature, a net works just fine.