Platy

[Asbestos]

Hello, I am new to these forums and I have a few questions regarding some Red Wag Platy Fry. So I have had them for about 2 months now (my first aquarium ever) and yesterday night I found a bunch of fry in my tank I managed to pull out about 19 before my catfish or any of the other fish ate them. So currently they are residing in a glass vase lol….and I am preparing a crappy 10 gallon tank I found in my garage (it use to house rodents) so I sealed it up with some silicon. So what I am doing to prepare it for the fry is I stuck a ghost shrimp in there. Just to see if it’s toxic lol so for the tank I have used some of the water from my already established tank and for about 30 mins I used the established tanks filter run in the new tank. And the new tank has no filter. So is there anything else I can do? Or that I have done wrong? A new filter is out of the question and I got fish fry food. Im sorry if this is explained in some other post i just wanted to make sure that my fry have a good chance.

[JPKeenan]

I would spring for the $12 for a sponge filter and a few bucks for a cheap air pump. My other suggestion would be a small cheap heater just to keep the temperature in check. Might be $30 all together.

Good thing is though, when the fry are big enough to put back into the main tank you should have a good little quarantine tank ready to go with that 10g tank

Platies are pretty hardy but I would be worried about the temp and high ammonia content of not having a filter or heater. The bio-load on fry should not be huge, and teh combination of sponge filter and air/water movement should help dispel some ammonia.

When you move the fry back to the main tank also move the sponge filter back to your main tank. That way it will be ready to go for the next time.

[kaiofcanada]

A couple things...you MUST cycle that tank if you want the fry to live. You are better off leaving the fry in your current tank in a live breeder net for a couple reasons.

One, the vase has not filtration and no heater. Fry need clean water with no ammonia or nitrites and second they need a higher temp to help them grow faster and to stimulate their metabolism. Fry need to be fed much more frequently than adult fish. Every 4 hours should be good. They empty their stomachs every 1-2 hours. It is easy to imagine the waste this produces and why a filter is neccessary. I suggest that you buy a live breeder tank/net and keep them there while you cycle your tank.

A fry tank does not need gravel, probably better that you dont have gravel to make the frequent cleanings you will need to do easier. They will need some plants or cover to feel secure. You can use moss or guppy grass or a fake plant. The ghost shrimp will eat your fry so don't leave him in there. Fry are snacks for ghost shrimp.

JPKeenan gave some good advice on inexpensive filtration. However because of the frequency of the fry diet needs and invariably the amount of waste that comes with that, the bioload for raising fry is more than you would think. Feeding them frequently and keeping the temp around 82 is best for growing strong healthy fry. They also need light to prevent weird curving of the spine. A cheap aq light is fine.

I also agree with JP that after the fry are big enough to make it on their own in your main tank you will have a nice tank setup for QT.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I have molly, platy, guppy, and swordtail fry. The platies take FOREVER to grow. Right now my 8 month old platy fry is barely 1 inch long (and he's in my 55) while my 6 month old swordtails are full size and already pregnant. So just be ready for that FYI.

[JPKeenan]

woot I might be an old dog that can learn some new tricks

I might not be 1/4 as knowledgeable as a lot of the folks here but I am slowing getting the hang of things

Breeder cage/net might be the value savings plan :0.

And most of us never think about a QT till we bring something new home and it we see white spots on our fish