Oh no! My platy just had babies

[Noviceafter2yea]

I was busy taking pictures of one of my platys to post here and ask whether it looked pregnant. I couldn't see the dark spot that pregnant fish get, but my fish was looking swollen, but was not pineconing. I have 3 platys, all female, and have had them for since mid April. Clearly she was knocked up when I got her.

Anyway, I took about 100 pictures (fish are hard to photograph) and then I got nervous that she might be sick, so I transferred her to my quarantine tank which was housing one of the other platys that I separated because she was getting bullied.

I watched for a while to make sure she didn't get stressed and it looked like she was going to poop. Instead, she was releasing these small white bundles. I had to turn the aquarium light on and, she was giving birth. Suddenly there are these small sperm-looking things darting around.

I didn't know what to do, so I found a small plastic container that has a feeding lid and is made to hold a fish, I think (maybe a betta - if you were mean). I put some tank water into the container and went fry fishing. To get some of them, I had to scoop them with some gravel, so there is a little gravel in the container with them.

I crushed 1/4 of a,bottom feeder tablet and put half of that in, along with some fake grass. It's midnight here, so my options are limited. I don't have a filter or a heater for it. I wrapped the container in a pet pee pad, hoping to give extra warmth. (I have to use what I have). I left a quarter of the top uncovered to circulate air.

Is there anything else I can do until I can get to a pet store tomorrow after work?

Do you think a local fish store would want the babies? They are super cute, but I am at my max for fish, and I have a feeling there will be another batch (a little goes a long way).

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[KatieBunky]

Most fish stores won't take fry until they are at least 1/2cm in length & can eat proper flake food without it being crushed. That's just the experience I've had with them. Unless of course you go there & they have some fry in a tank (sometimes the female livebearers at an lfs give birth there & the staff put the rescued fry into their own tank) then you can ask if your fry can go in with theirs.

The fry will be freezing their butts off in that container so here's what I would do:
1.) Remove the mother from the hospital tank & put her back in the main tank.
2.) Put the fry into the hospital tank (as long as there are no other fish in the hospital tank)
3.) If you have a filter that has slits in the sides, put a pantyhose (I think that's what Americans call them) over the filter to reduce the chances of the fry getting stuck in the filter. It's not nice having to wash a fry out of a filter sponge :'(
4.) You can feed the fry on newly hatched brine shrimp or keep crushing the bottom feeder tablets.
Good luck!

Typically British!