Is It Bad To Leave Fry To Fend For Themselves?

[RobGoldsmith]

15 weeks of having live-bearers and im on my third load of fry! The first lot died, the second are down to two who are in a bag 5 weeks in and almost large enough to release.

When i found more this morning i just got sad. I cant keep taking my tank to bits looking for them every month. I already have 1 baby area in the tank, i cant have 2 or 3 or 4 etc.

I have watched my Bol Ram following them about, what should i do? Is it bad to leave it to nature?



Rob

 

[Jamepsss]

Is it bad to leave it to nature?

Rob

Not at all. Provide plenty of plants to give them cover and then it's survival of the fittest.

If you try and save them all you'll be overrun with fish in no time.

 

[Embrace]

To be honest, if you save every fry that you see, your tank will quickly become overrun! If you want to keep a few, get some cumps of javamoss that the fry can be safe in.

 

[ian]

i'm with Jamepsss on this one, i always tend to let them fend for themselves (thats because i can never manage to catch them!). As above, plenty of cover, and dense planting and you'll soon have Juvis.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

will feeding the fish this morning fill them up so they dont chase the fry? Or will it make them hunt for food more?


Thanks
Rob

 

[Schrammykins]

will feeding the fish this morning fill them up so they dont chase the fry? Or will it make them hunt for food more?


Thanks
Rob

Well, it'll keep them from chasing them around for a little bit. However, fish eat pretty much anything they can fit their mouth around.

 

[elisew]

It does become frustrating when live bearers keep dropping fry at a great rate of knots which is why it`s suggested that people only keep males. Females can and usually do store sperm just in case there are no males around for a while. so buying females and thinking there will be no babies is pointless. There is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving the fry in the tank and let nature take it`s course. Some may survive if there`s enough hiding places but most will get eaten.
If you`re at the point of being a bit fed up with dealing with lots of fry, it may be a good idea to look at rehoming your females

 

[karigupi]

I used to try to save all of mine & its such hard work! Now I let nature do its thing, I still seem to end up with 3 or 4 fry from each drop & the numbers start to add up really quick.

If you want them to have a good place to hide, I place a pile of large pebbles ( 2 to 3 inches each) in one corner of the tank, it makes lots of gaps big enough for the fry to hide, but small enough to keep hungry mouths out.

 

[LuciferJonny]

I have a breeding pair of columbian tetras. I discovered a single fry before i knew they were a breeding pair, i have lots of plants and rocks which he hid in, about a month later, i discovered another single fry, both are now swimming around with the other fish. I dont know how many fry i started off with, but both times only had a single survivor. Due to the layout of my tank, i would never be able to catch them.

 

[Proxo]

I agree, let nature run its course and if they survive thats a bonus
I leave all my fry alone in my community tank as i dont want to be overrun with fish (might sound harsh but... lol)

However, i sometimes help in my cichlid tank with protecting the fry as my male green terror doesnt bother to help as much as he should lol.

 

[xdaCostax]

What size tank do you have?

 

[Primous]

Female Livebeaeres can store sperm for upto 6 months. They breed so easily that they have lost their natural elegance. Livebearers have been redued to begging for food and having babies due to over breeding. I think they remain popular because in the lfs people interpret the incessant begging as the fish being "friendly."

I would remove the male.

 

[CletePurcel]

With some livebearers isn't it a bad idea to just keep males? Platies, for example.

I have male Platies that just fight if there are not enough females around.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

Wow

I just watched a baby swim into the side of a rock then get eaten by a ram almost hoovering it up! Rams can seem pretty slow but my god can they eat! ...No sign of any fry today, last ones i saw were swimming along the waterline last night.