Platy fry growth rate?

[thedavinator]

My female platy delivered a batch of fry about a month and a half ago. I'd say they've about doubled in size, but compared to my 3-day-old molly fry, they're not much bigger. I know mollys are a little bigger than platys, so it's not much of a shock that the fry come out larger.

Anyway, before I get off subject, I just was curious what the normal growth rate is? I just feel like they should be a lot bigger than they are by now. Also, it seems a lot of people by now start to see their colors come in. Mine are still the same orange-brown color they were when they were born. Some do have the Micky-mouse pattern visible on their tails, but some do not (the mom is a Micky-mouse and the father is a sunburst).

I turned the temperature up weeks ago (partly to kill an ich outbreak) and I heard that's supposed to increase growth rate. I also feed them First Bites fish food at least 3 times a day. Perhaps I should start giving them crushed flakes? The First Bites is just convenient right now because I have them in a tank with the newborn mollys.

 

[daveho]

sorry bud not to sure on platies, have you considered feeding them baby brine shrimp i have noticed a bit of improved growth with my molly fry with brine shrimp but the brine shrimp are best during the first 24 hours ( while they are absorbing there yolk sacks) after that the nutritional value drops.

 

[thedavinator]

I haven't considered that. I think I'll go to the shop tomorrow and look for some more nutritional food. I've been wanting to change up my fish's diet a little bit anyway. Thanks

 

[thedavinator]

My less-than-a-week-old mollys are already the same size as the almost-2-month-old platys! I'm afraid the ich medicine I treated the tank with a few weeks ago may have stunted their growth or something

 

[Samzter]

What size tank are they in ? Do you know how big they are roughly ? Try mixing up their diet as much as you can. I'm sure it's normal tho.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

The fry growth rate really depends on the diet , the tank, the temp, and the parents. They need a varied balanced diet. Anything from flakes to algea wafers and live foods. The tank that will best allow your fry to grow fast is a tank with lots of live plants and no other fish except the fry. The higher the temp the faster
Metabolism the fry will have so the faster they grow. The parents also make a huge impact , if they are small or dull colored then most likely the fry will too. Same goes for i your fry parents are bright and big then the fry will carry those traits ( some may just be big. And dull others could be bright and small)

 

[thedavinator]

The fry growth rate really depends on the diet , the tank, the temp, and the parents. They need a varied balanced diet. Anything from flakes to algea wafers and live foods. The tank that will best allow your fry to grow fast is a tank with lots of live plants and no other fish except the fry. The higher the temp the faster
Metabolism the fry will have so the faster they grow. The parents also make a huge impact , if they are small or dull colored then most likely the fry will too. Same goes for i your fry parents are bright and big then the fry will carry those traits ( some may just be big. And dull others could be bright and small)

The parents are the two fish in my profile pic. The mother is the orange one with the Micky Mouse pattern. She may have been already pregnant when I purchased her, but she came out of the same tank as the male. All the fish in the tank looked either like him or her. She is a very pretty reddish-orange color. The fry are more of a brown-orange color. Only about half have her Micky Mouse pattern. I feed them First Bites and some crushed up flakes alternatively 3 times a day. They are in a 10 gallon tank with the 7 Molly fry. A couple fake plants and a large plastic log that they seem to really like. They're all very active, just small. Some are a bit larger than the others, but they all eat when I place food in the tank. The Molly fry are growing extremely fast, and already look like mini versions of their parents. The platy still look like fry. The tank is set at about 82 degrees.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

Sounds about right. It's just up to them now, lol

 

[RobbieHadley]

My platys are about 3 weeks now and are still pretty s I don't know how big your are but I've attached a photo of mine. I know my swordtails were pretty big by about two months and this batch seem to go a little slower in growth than my swords but I don't think it's anything to worry about. Molly fry are bigger than platy fry just as Molly's are naturally bigger than a platy. Like everyone else said try mixing up their diet. I feed my 3 week old fry a mix between first bites and crushed flakes. Good luck!

 

[Bubbles0oO]

One thing i have noticed with swordtails is they have smaller batches of fry but the fry com out more developed and larger.

 

[RobbieHadley]

I can see this being true. When you look at swords they are bigger like mollys so it would make sense since Molly fry come out bigger and more developed

 

[thedavinator]

My mollys are growing so fast! My platys dwarf them in size. I'm almost ready to transfer them to the big tank with mom and dad. I just wish they were more colorful. They're a pretty dull grey. I guess that's what you get when you mix black and white haha. Maybe I'll get lucky and a few will end up with the gold highlights on their fins and tail, like dad.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

When you transfer them into the larger tank, watch for the first week or so to make sure they can compete with mom/dad for food , i had several fry die of starvation this way

 

[RobbieHadley]

I agree I kept my fry in a separate tank for about two months then moved to main tank and had to watch very close. I would even count them daily to make sure they were all still there

 

[thedavinator]

I'm sure they're big enough to not be eaten by the other fish by now. I'm going to be cautious and wait another week before I move them, though. I guess the platys will have to call the 10 gallon their home for a bit longer. If I have to, when I do move them, I'll throw some more First Bites in there. I doubt the adults will have much interest in that. Or I'll just give the adults brine shrimp and the babies some flakes. The adults will attack the shrimp that are much too big for the fry to eat.

 

[RobbieHadley]

When you go to move them I recommend using a cup to get them out not a net. Netting fry can be dangerous to them because it causes a lot of stress and the net itself can hurt them. When I move fry I just take a party cup (the disposable red cups) an dunk it causing a current that pulls the fry into the cup with water. I find my fry live longer during the transition that way, a lot less stress for them.

 

[Copachick]

We had one particular fry that grew like a weed! He was one that survived on his own in the main tank with the adults and was fine. After the adults got moved (we had just gotten the 75gallon) the fry was big enough to go over with them, Hes growing fast.
Now we have 9 platy fry in our ten gallon that SEEM to be growing fast as well just not as fast as the first one did. I figured maybe it was because the first platy (named Jr. after his dad) was always in the main big tank, and the other fry were first in a breeder net for a little bit, then transferred to the 10 gallon so they could grow. Maybe being in smaller places had something to do with it.
Fry are so cute!

 

[thedavinator]

Update: I just introduced the 7 mollys into the 29 gallon. So far so good. They mostly hang out in the top corners of the tank. I have 2 brave ones that will explore the entire tank. The rest just school together and alternate between hanging by the filter and the heater. They dart away when the big fish come near, and I've seen daddy chase after them a couple times, and mommy once. I'm not too worried though, she's heavily pregnant again and not the fastest swimmer at the moment (she's waddling too haha). I expect another batch from her any day now. Platy fry are too small to move just yet in my opinion. Mom and dad molly would probably have a feast. I'll give them another few weeks.