Platy breeding

[David]

For all you platy enthusiasts out there: in your experience how long did it take after you introduced them to the tank for them to mate? I just introduced mine today and can't wait for them to breed

 

[Final Dynazty]

took my swordies only a week

 

[mandi]

How funny -- I just brought home my two platies today too And like you, I'm excited and hoping they'll breed.

Good luck with yours -- hopefully soon!

 

[Sasha]

One of females platies, Sundance, is very popular! Right after I introduced 3 male platies into the tank, they followed her everywhere!Even my platy/swordtail follwed her! She got pregnant almost immediatly and then I ended up with 11 fry!

 

[HotStuffGal]

Hey I'm Scarlett and it took one full year for them finally to breed, I had waited forever lol!

 

[David]

I guess all individual fish are different. Mine show little interest in each other for now, maybe because tank is not fully cycled yet. Good luck to all of you and good luck to me too.

 

[yhbae]

According to my calculation, mine pretty much mated on the day when I purchased them. They couldn't wait long enough...

 

[TK Tiger]

wow i am excited yesterday i got 2 silver mollies one is a lyre tail they looked happy in the tank wich is awesome and well cycled, i think the female might be preggies alrady she is a bit bloated, but i am not sure. the male was following her everyware last night, and they were happy to feed this moning.

what can i feed them?
can i leave the lights on all the time?

 

[yhbae]

You should keep the same light schedule as before - turn them off during the night.

As for food, the fries will eat the same food that you feed to the adults - make sure that you grind them into smaller pieces. You can do this by simply grinding flakes between two fingers...

Of course, if you can hatch baby brine shrimps, that is the best option by far...

 

[TK Tiger]

can anyone provide me with some more information on breeding brine shrimps or tell me were to go

 

[yhbae]

You need to buy some eggs. I bought mine through www.aquabid.com. Its a good sized can so it will last forever for you (may be even too big if you don't need constant feeding).

I made by own DIY hatchery using a 2L coke bottle.

1. Cut off the top 1/3 of the bottle.
2. Take the cap, put a hole through it, insert the end of a air tube. This needs to be connected to a air pump, of course.
3. Put the cap back into the top third of the bottle.
4. Reverse & insert the top third into the bottom two third. (Putting some rocks in the bottom bottle may help to keep the setting stable).
5. Put some water, some marine salt, and baking soda. (I use about 1/2 tea spoon). You can use the tap water directly - chlorine will go away.
6. Turn on the air tube lightly so that you will see few bubbles of air coming out every second.
7. Wait for two days. (Make sure the room is not too cold, colder the room is slower they hatch).
8. You will observe lots of bright orange dust-like articles in the water. Shine a tabletop light towards the mouth of the bottle where the cap is. Keep it there for few minutes.
9. Use a baster or syringe to suck them out. Use a coffee filter and some plastic cups to filter these critters off. Feed these to the fishes...

I know it sounds like there's alot of steps, but you get used to it. It takes no more tha few minutes of your daily life to feed multiple tanks of fishes. Also given the size of the can, I figure this must be one of the cheapest food I can get for the fishes!

Try it if you feel you are up to it...