IMO= in my opinion. OP= original poster.
absolutangel04 said:IMO= in my opinion. OP= original poster.
a filtered, heated 3g sounds fine for fry.
Do try to get the gender ratio right though if you want your female to have a full lifespan. Male livebearers have been known to stress females to death if there aren't enough females to distribute the attention between.
she still hasn't dropped yet, but I've only had her in the small tank a day. I'll give her one more day then I'll put her back in my 20 gallon to swim it off
That sounds like a good plan.Thanks soooo much! I was completely lost! And I will try to even up the genders by keeping some of the babies
IME (in my experience), the first fry drop is often really small, sometimes even as small as like 5 babies. But, later drops get bigger. And you can definitely put the female back into the smaller tank after a day or so of excerisize. 
Thanks soooo much! I was completely lost! And I will try to even up the genders by keeping some of the babies
Usually the fish available for sale are rather young, so I usually assume it will be their first drop.Thanks
I'm not sure if this is her first drop or not. I bought her and some other fish already in the aquarium. I'll have to call the lady and ask lol
absolutangel04 said:Usually the fish available for sale are rather young, so I usually assume it will be their first drop.
poor things.
Ah. I see. In that case, I am guessing the female will get a bit bigger before she actually drops the fry. But, you never know. Its always a bit hard to tell from pictures because the light play tricks on me.I bought the tank privately from someone getting out of the hobby. She said that it's probably not her first drop because they mated all the time but she never bred them. She said she left them in the tank and let them eat the babies
And yes, if you leave fry in with the parents, they will eat them like crazy. Fry can survive with adults in a really well planted tank so the fry can hide. But, you are keeping the fry separate, so you should definitely get some cute little babies! But then we moved into a new house and havent set up the 10 gallon to start cycling it yet. We had a prego platy but I assumed she gave birth and they didnt make it. But they are SO cute as they grow up
I personally discovered with my first batch of fry that I had put in a baking dish after catching them at birth they got VERY cold at night...They were laying motionless at the bottom barely moving their little fins. I dipped my finger in the water in the middle of the night and I SHIVERED... I was horrified that they were freezing to death and in the morning went and got a 10 gal tank, gravel rocks, decorations, filter, filter sponge to cover intake, and a heater. They are now very happy 6 1/2 week old 1" lil babies. I highly recommend the heated environment.... and frequent feedings.. I fed flakes crushed to a fine powder every 4-5 hours .... the flake crushing got bigger as they grew of course. They are now ravenous little pigs and rush the glass when i come to the tank. 
Usually the fish available for sale are rather young, so I usually assume it will be their first drop.
My first female molly that dropped fry I had gotten from Petsmart.... I was able to save all of them... 43!!
ocminpin said:
It depends. You have to call places in your area to see if anybody will take them from you, either adoption or for cash or credit. But, there is a surplus of livebeaers out there, so it may be hard. You can always put an ad on craigslist or something like that and offer them up for people.
IME, stores want them to be about 1-2 inches before taking them.
abrahamavelar said:
