Frozen food for platy fry....

[Chantal38]

Hi, can someone please confirm if frozen brine shrimp is safe to feed to platy fry? Ive read some things online that say it shouldnt be fed to really young fry & can cause illness & death...since ive stopped feeding mine frozen brine shrimp they don't seem to be growing as well...any help/advice would be much appreciated...thanks.

 

[Guppy10]

Don't no. Why don't you just feed them crushed flakes for now ? Mine love it and are so active and growing strong, tho I think I'll return them to the tank soon to weed out the weak ones. They are mostly black or yellow / black. Don't fuss over them... The will be fine if water is ok.

 

[Chantal38]

I do feed them crushed flakes at the moment but a lot of people say to feed them frozen brine shrimp...which i have been doing but after losing a couple of fry i started doing some research and found mixed information about feeding frozen brine shrimp to fry that are too young so was just wondering if anyone else had heard of this.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I do feed them crushed flakes at the moment but a lot of people say to feed them frozen brine shrimp...which i have been doing but after losing a couple of fry i started doing some research and found mixed information about feeding frozen brine shrimp to fry that are too young so was just wondering if anyone else had heard of this.

I've never heard of any risks with brine shrimp for fry, frozen or not. I have heard of potential dangers with bloodworms and parasites, but not brine shrimp. On the contrary, a lot of breeding recommendations suggest baby brine shrimp for raising lots of different fry, including species a lot more delicate than platies.

Where did you hear about this? Are you able to link a source?

I feed a few different frozen foods to newborn livebearers. I like cyclops and moina for the tiny newborns, and also use Hikari first bites or power up some quality flake. I use frozen brine shrimp and daphnia when they're a little older, along with whatever the adults are having like the finely ground bug bites.

How big is the tank with the fry, how many times a day do you feed, and how often do you water change? Water changes are very important for fast and healthy growth, along with good nutrition of course. I don't think it really matters what you feed, as long as it's good quality and small enough to fit in their mouths.

 

[Guppy10]

Don't fuss over them lol, the good ones will be fine. Flake food is fine and they like plant life and algae . I purposely don't feed that tank with live food so babies may not get considered as food. The other tank gets live food nearly everyday and the results are stunning. But no fry would ever survive in there.
Feed them tiny amounts as many times you can until you see uneaten food then back it off.
I agree that smallish but often water changes will be good, I'm not fussed too much about a regime but I'll do 10 gal 3 X a week and it's cristal clear and no losses so far. Good luck, all will be fine if you look after the water quality.

 

[CassCats]

I offer frozen once they get to 3/4" inch. Before that, you could opt for frozen daphnia instead.

Or, get brine shrimp eggs and hatch baby brine shrimp for them. Which is tedious but not as bad as it sounds in instructions once you get a routine going with it. But they will go bonkers for live baby brine shrimp and will grow faster.