So THAT'S why my platies were acting strange...

[Madame_X]

I couldn't figure it out. The platies have been acting weird for the past couple of weeks, hiding, not coming out to eat. I've checked my water parameters a million times thinking something must be wrong. Perfect every time (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates).

Tonight I was doing my weekly water change before I added my new fish to the tank (a 1" young clown pleco) when I saw something wiggling. "What the..." and then it got sucked up into the siphon tube. Then I realized what it was. Fry!

The question is, where are all the others? Its only a 12 gallon tank with fake plants, but I've searched high and low and can only find this one fry. I can't imagine that the platies could have eaten them all already... could they? There are three platies in the tank, along with two upside down catfish but they hide all the time--I can't imagine that the catfish would have eaten any yet. The baby is too tiny to have been born before today.

Do they eat their young that fast? The platies came swimming out at their normal dinner time tonight acting hungry. It seems odd that they would act this way if they had polished off an entire... er, litter?

In any event, this single fry is now in a breeder net, and I floated a couple pieces of hornwort at the top of the tank in case any others are still alive so they would have a better place to hide.

This is my first baby fish, so I don't have a clue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Madame_X]

Just found another one... He came right up to the breeder net to get in there and hide with his sibling.

I guess they're just really good at hiding. I'll have to keep my eyes open!

 

[Sati]

Cute :]

 

[Allivymar]

*hands out chocolate cigars*

Yay! Its so nice to have a GOOD reason for strange fish behavior I'm pleased for you (and the platys LOL).

 

[myriam]

Congrats on your fry, Madame_X! I have 10 fry myself right now, a mix of platies and mollies. I have 4 pregnant fish and only these few are still around, and 8 of them are in a separate, divided area of my tank. So yes, I do believe that the fish can eat their young that fast. Kind of freaky and I'm glad I haven't witnessed it because it would be too sad :-(

There have been several threads here about what to do with the fry, feeding, breeder nets, etc. I believe if you use the Search function on this site, you should be able to find them.

Good luck to you and your two fry!

 

[madasafish]

He he. Fry are spectacular hiders. I had a 2.5 gallon with some ghost shrimp in it, and moved these guys to another tank. The 2.5 was still up and running, but I slacked on the water changes etc. since I knew there were no fish in there. *Knew* was wrong. By complete chance (the French say it better: "par hazard") I noticed a little pair of black eyes staring up at me (couldn't have been more than 1/2 mm across). I checked and realized it was a baby ghost shrimp. Darned if I could find another. Well, over the next few days I saw him again and again, and didn't worry much about feeding him.

I finally dismantled the tank, and found that there were 4 fry in there, not just the 1. They're in a little unit by themselves now. Aw. So cute. About 1.5 mm long each!!

Oh and the moment I read your thread title I *knew* (this time correctly) that you were talking about pregnant fishies. Just *knew* it. Glad to hear there are a couple of survivors.

 

[Madame_X]

Thanks everyone!

As of this morning, I have only found the two. They seemed to be seeking places to hide in the breeder net under the rails, so I put a piece of hornwort in with them to make them feel more secure. This seemed to work. One of them is hanging out in it and the other swimming around the bottom of the breeder net this morning.

I bought some Hikari First Bites to feed them with. It says livebearers are big enough to eat this right when they're born. I've been putting little portions of this in the net but I can't tell if they're eating it (its like powder). Hopefully, some of it will stick in with the hornwort and they'll munch on it whenever they feel like it.

Madasa--I have a 2.5 gallon tank like that, too. I would have put the fry in there but I had just gotten back from the fish store when I found them. I bought some ghost shrimp for my puffer and had just put them in the 2.5 gallon tank (can't put them all in with the puffer or he'd eat them all at once!). I thought the ghost shrimp would probably eat the fry if I put them in together so I bought the breeder net for now. My plan is once the ghost shrimp are all gone in a week or so, I'll move the fry into that tank so they have a little more room until they're big enough to move back in to my 12 gallon.

Since these are my first fry and I only managed to find two, I'd like to keep them, so I hope I can keep them alive!

 

[PlatyLady]

I agree with madasafish, fry are excellent hiders. It must be programmed into their genes for survival! For the longest time, I thought my platies had eaten all buy 1 fry. As she got bigger, I noticed that she looked slightly different every time I saw her. Eventually, I found out it was 3 different fry, but only one came out at a time! Definitely a good surprise!

 

[possum]

Man 2 ppl vaccuming up fry they didnt know they had Go Figure

 

[Madame_X]

Well, two days later--I found a third fry!

The Hikari First Bites must have a strong smell that attracts the little guys. I found this one nibbling on the outside of the breeder net. He had done a good job hiding up in the fake plants but I figured he'd be safer with his siblings so we netted him and put him in the breeder net.

I almost hope I don't find any more... not sure I can keep too many more!

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do if they start breeding like crazy. I guess I'll have to ask my LFS to take them (I hope they will).