PREMATURE BIRTH

[Fishy Fishy Man]

Our platies have come to our new awuarium already pregnant, and when I came home today i noticed roughly 10 dead fry's in our sponge filter!

After moving some rocks i found the only survivors, and i am keeping them in the net that came with the tank by butting it on the surface, but this came totaly by surprise. Please help! What can i do with the remaining frys, how can i stop this from happening again? Do i need a separate tank for them? What equipment should we rush out and buy?

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

k then the fish in the net have dissapeared (never leave your little brother in cahrge of keeping an eye on them if you have a t.v). i htink they were suked through the holes in the net, either by the filter or maybe by the fish. Still wondering What to do if this happens again. We only have one tank and no breeding net or anything, and another breeding pair of platys.

R.I.P little ones

 

[rachel21]

my first batch of fry i only found when i decided it was time to clean the filter out. came as a surprise to me too as we didn't have any male fish at that point. the go to the filter cos it's safer than swimming round and getting eaten by the rest of the fish.

i've now got a 2nd tank so i can put my babies in there. i recommend a breeding net if you cant get a 2nd smaller tank depending on your other tank size. it's best to keep the fry separated from the adult fish.

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

Will talk to Father about breeding net. Another tank will have to be payed for by me, in the process of applying for a job, maybe at LFS B)

Wont the current from the filter pull them onto the side of the breeding net?

 

[rachel21]

no. unless you're fish and teeny tiny. i have 3 day old fry in a tank on there own. no breeding net and they're not in the filter. in fact none of them have. if you're worried about that put the bredding net away from the filte.r you need ot make sure there's enough current going through the net so the fish dont suffocate but i've not lst a fry from a breeding net cos of the filte.r

the other thing, fry and small, they need to be fed small things. personally i use liquifry no.2 for livebearers but you can feed them flakes as long as you crush them up really small!

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

k thx 4 ur help rach!

 

[CathyG]

You could always cover the filter intake tube with a piece of nylon stocking