Platy Fry

[Glod]

Ok, so my dad went with cycling his new tank with fish. There's 9 platys in there (4 boys 5 girls - lfs couldn't even sex them right!) at the moment and it's been running for nearly a month. We did lose one platy girl last week tho unfortunately So far the ammonia is heading back to 0, the nitrites are spiking tho and there is some nitrate when I test at the moment. Doing regular water changes of about 20-25% every 5 days or so seems to be mitigating the worst of the situation.

Anyway today I was doing the traditional fish rollcall at feeding time making sure they are all hale and hearty when I noticed a couple of small snails that must have been on the plants or something. So, as I lifted the tank lid off to reach in for the snails something small moved in a corner of the tank. A small fish baby! The tank is planted, tho not very densely but between plants and rocks and a couple of logs there are dozens of hiding places for the adults, let alone the fry. So, I hunted around some more and spotted some more fry hiding in around one of the logs.

Obviously the conditions can't be termed ideal since the tank is about half way through cycling. I don't really have a spare tank at the moment since I am fishless cycling the small one for a betta to be added in a few weeks. Do you reckon the babies have a fighting chance in the big tank ? As you can see it's pretty spacious for so few fish. Should I go and try to get some fry food ? Or just let nature take it's course and let them take their chances ?

What do you think ?

 

[melloumaw]

hi,
i got a twin breeder and netted the 1st batch into there,you can also get airflow ones,they are only good for a small period of time though.all batch's now are left to nature.im not sure about your tank conditions sorry
good luck
melanie

 

[Glod]

I thought about getting a breeder net for them, but catching them is pretty much out of the question without dismantling the tank, lol.

As for the conditions, I test every day to make sure none of the levels go overboard but obviously there are going to be nitrites of some degree in the water for a while yet...

I know it sounds harsh... but I'm tempted to let them take their chances. No idea what they must be eating tho (if anything).

 

[lissie]

My platy just had babies too, im having problem catching them as they re underneath the plants and that. I have put one in a fry net and i think im going to see if the others live as my tank is well planted, for good hiding places.
Why dont u try the same, put maybe one or too in a fry net? jsut a suggestion

 

[Glod]

Heh, every time I look at the tank I find another one sneaking about... found 4 so far, no idea how many there are total

 

[campbellmay]

Platy fry are pretty resilient, as long as they can keep from being eaten (a substantial amount of plant cover makes for good hiding places). If their parents are happy, there's a good chance the fry will make it. As long as you do frequent water changes and make sure they're getting food, they should be okay.

 

[Larry_the_lobster]

Just want to add try making whatever food you give to the adults a little smaller so that the fry can have a bit of a meal too

 

[Glod]

Thanks for the comments guys... I've been keeping an eye on them and they seem to be doing pretty well. I've even seen some of the bigger (8mm or so) ones attacking a rogue full sized fish flake. They're obviously doing fine since they are growing so fast !

There seems to be about 12-15 visible at the moment, tho I suspect the numbers may be as high as 40 as the smaller ones really like to hide.

I'm rooting for the little guys and keeping on top of water changes as the nitrites are currently spiking, (ammonia has been 0 for over a week now).

Now I just need to have a think about what I can add to the tank that won't immediately have platy fry for brunch (After the nitrites have settled, hehe) Thinking some corys maybe... or some cardinal tetras, since in another week or so the fry should be big enough to not be eaten instantly. We'll see.