Platy Fry And Danio

[sbenbow]

Hi All,
 
A bit of a newbie here - had my 40l tank (cycled) and now with 3 Pearl Danio's for 4 weeks and the cycle levels are fine.  Last week we planted some live plants (3 x bunches)
 
The end goal was to have either some more pearl danio's or some platy in the tank, with some shrimp to help clean up the bottom!
 
And now for the question - I've been offered some Platy fry for the tank.  I'd love to take them (otherwise they are likely to be destroyed as they are in a tank that is already too crowded).
 
I am however worried that the Danio's would try and eat them.  Does anyone have any thought's / idea's / guidelines as to how big (long) or old the fry should be to ensure that they have a very decent try at survival?
 
Many thanks for any and all responses!
 

 

[Lillefishy]

If the fry are small enough to fit in the danios mouth then they'll eat them, if they're bigger than that then they should be ok

 

[fm1978]

There would be a big chance your wee Danios would make a meal of the Platy fry.
 
That aside, your tank is too small for platy anyway so it wouldn't be the right choice for a couple of reasons, I'm afraid.
 
If you really wanted to take them, you'd have to separate them from just about everything else and then be in a position to buy a much larger tank pretty soon.

 

[sbenbow]

 
That aside, your tank is too small for platy anyway so it wouldn't be the right choice for a couple of reasons, I'm afraid.
 

 
Thankfully someone else has taken the platy fry now (just had a text through!) - so no worries there.
 
 
With regards to the number of fish - what would be the ideal number?
 
I've seen various statistics from between 1cm of fish per litre of water through to 2.5 cm of fish per 4l litres of water.  I had gone worse case (2.5cm of fish to 4 litres of water) to give about 26 cm of fish in a 40 litre tank.
 
3 Danio's and 2 Variatus Platy's (each about 5cm when adult) should be 25cm and sufficient for the tank.  I was told that shrimp do not add to the biomass (and I was going to only get 4 - 1 per 10litre of water).  All this was confirmed by 3 fish stores in the area (but I do know that fish stores are there to sell, and not to look after!).

 

[fm1978]

Sorry to be the bearer of slightly bad news, but, the tank size you have isn't ideally suited for either the Danios or the platies.
 
Since Danios are quite social they like to school and 3 number of them isn't really the best. A tank that size limits your choices somewhat, I'm afraid.
 
On the shrimp front, you're right, they don't add much to the net bio-load at all and are fine to add to your tank. Amano shrimp are hardy and good cleaners and their shrimp-lets won't survive in freshwater so easier for population control, too.