Non-Swimming Platy Fry

[PrairieSunflower]

I didn't put this in the emergency section as I really don't think anything can be done, but wanted to post in case there were some ideas.

5 days ago I discovered 3 grey platy babies in my tank. I was not aware that the 3 small/adult females in the tank could be pregant (well one can't be for sure... the other 2, a chance, I suppose... or obviously! HAHA) I am suspecting them to be blue coral babies, but not really sure.

Anyhow... 2 are doing just as you'd expect... the third one (second to be found), doesn't swim... as in at all really. I am not sure if it is eating... but it hasn't died.

What are your opinions? Should I leave it and give it its chance? Should I euthanize it as maybe it is starving or suffering? Is there some way to treat it? Can't think how to treat it really.

 

[KrystaK]

If it's not really swimming there's the possibility that it's under developed or that it suffered some trauma during or shortly after birth that caused some sort of damage.

I bought a Blue coral platy who was probably about half way through a pregnancy by my guess. I brought her home and within half an hour there were five gray-brown fry in the tank. They could all sort of swim, but not really. My other fish ended up eating them...
Anyways I think the stress of moving and being introduced to a new tank caused her to drop some fry early - and they were under developed so they died.

In my opinion if it can't survive on it's own i.e: feed itself or even swim, i think it should be put out of it's misery.

Do you have them ina fry tank or a breeder trap or something? If you do, I would honestly just take your un-swimming baby out and introduce it back to the tank with the adults - one of them will make use of it with their tummy.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yes, the 3 are in a breeder net. My other older platy babies are free swimming in the tank. My 3 adults have shown no interest in baby eating. The only platy I have that would eat it is in the community tank as apparently she hates all other platies.... LOL

I think I'd rather just put it out of its mystery than put it in the tank.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Well i can't comment on Platy fry specifically but recently i had a Killi fry (granted, a fair few weeks old) that would not swim and just stayed on the bottom, it appears to be making a bit of a comeback now. I would say that unless it is obviously suffering and will not make it then you may as well leave it in to see how it gets on.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, thing is, it's so small I can't really tell if it is suffering or not... other than it isn't swimming and I haven't witnessed it eating.

 

[Tuxyu3]

I see, the fry i am talking about is actually a couple of centimetres big now so if yours is very small maybe putting it down would be the kindest thing to do. Lets face it, it would be long dead in the wild by now, natural selection and all.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah. I will most likely put it down.

 

[Tuxyu3]

It seems sad but hey, you can't save 'em all. Don't feel bad about it suffering though, it cannot be helped and to be perfectly honest at this young age i see them as more of a bundle of nerves than an actual fish, I honestly do not believe it will actually be 'suffering' as such. At least, thats the way i prefer to think of it so as not to feel bad.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah... I was really excited about these surprise 3, as I have 25 identical babes already... so 3 different ones were exciting!

They probably were premature or something... though the mother would have been in my tank a couple of weeks before they were born.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Don't worry, i'm sure there will be more than enough opportunities in the future

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I'm trying to reduce those chances. I am keeping females only... of course couldn't avoid that some may initially come pregnant. So far, one was really small when I bought her and not pregnant. The next was the one that gave me loads of babies... and the next two... one of which gave me the latest 3. Hopefully only one of the two new platies can be pregnant.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

UPDATE:

The bad news: I decided to euthanize my non-swimmer.

The good news: I discovered another grey baby that has managed to hide in my tank until today and is thriving and in fact bigger than the two babies I had in my net.

I also decided to let the two babies out to swim free.