questions about first-time platy babies!

[emdroid]

Hi all, I have read many helpful posts here but haven't quite found the answer to my questions. I have a 10 gallon tank that currently houses a HUGE chinese algae eater (5-6"), a 1" otto cat, and four platys (2 M, 2 F) between 1 and 2 inches each. I had read that there wasn't much you could do to prevent breeding and babies. Lo and behold, I now have somewhere between 7 and 10 little babies swimming around happily in the tank. We have done nothing to help them thus far after trying unsuccessfully to scoop them out when we first noticed them. There are tons of hiding places in our tank and they seem to be getting by just fine.
I would like to upgrade to a 20 or 25 gallon tank sometime soon but in the meantime, I was wondering if I can just let the babies live in the 10 gallon with the adults. When they are big enough I guess I could scoop them and give them back to the petstore although I wouldn't mind keeping a few of them. If I am good with regular water changes and cleaning the filter, will all my platys ultimately live in harmony? As I said I want to get a bigger tank but I would rather not buy a bunch of extra equipment if my fish will be okay with the babies still in there growing up. I also figure that they will ultimately have more babies and I obviously can't keep them all - will they eat the babies to regulate or will they just overpopulate?
We have been waiting for the adults to eat the babies but they don't seem all that interested, plus the babies are really fast. Now we're kind of attached to them!
One more question - the two females are a red wag and a bumblebee, the two males are a red dalmatian and a "24k gold tuxedo" and I definitely see some babies with the bumblebee pattern. Can they mix patterns, such that there could be some with bumblebee stripes and dalmatian spots, or red bumblebee stripes?
Thank you in advance from a newbie! I am a sucker for all animals so of course I only want the best for my little baby fishies

 

[Crepe]

That 10 gal is too small for the algae eater. You might consider handing him over also. I'd go ahead and get more otos also, they don't fare well alone. Yes, if they have enough hiding holes they will be fine. You could get some uncolored yarn and dangle a tangle in the water for the fry to hide in as a cheap solution.

 

[emdroid]

Thanks Crepe - just wanted to clear up that I got the algae eater from a tank labeled 'otto cats' (bad pet store!) and of course he is now huge - one of the main reasons I want a bigger tank. He too has grown on me and I don't think I could get rid of him. We have three cave/rock things plus tons of fake plants with little leaves that the babies seem to be hiding in but again, the adults really don't seem that interested in eating the babies. Do they usually wait more than a week before eating them?

 

[Crepe]

No, if they are baby eaters they go for them when they are small. After another week they will probably be too big for them to eat.

 

[HeathB]

Yeah, some parents are baby eaters and some aren't. I've got guppies, and I haven't seen them eat a baby yet. Of course I might have missed it if they did, but I've still got a decent bunch of little guppies flying around.

 

[sarahh]

+1 for some parents don't eat em.. i had a platy momma actually protecting her brood like a frigging convict momma.. she adopted some molly babies too.. your bigguns will probably leave them if they haven't eaten them so far

 

[bobbibubbles]

Help this Newby! Platy babies!

Hey all! I'm just looking for some advice and apologize in advance..bc i don't know how exactly to use this site! So heres the run down..

My 3yr old son and I, have 8 fish all female except one male..5 female guppys, and a mystery platy/molly female. A couple months back I did a little research and purchased a male(black and orange)/female(black) pair of platy's to breed. Also, hoping maybe the male platy would breed with the guppies, giving them some color. Well, this morning I went to feed my fish and noticed a little black and orange..im assuming.. platy BaBy!! I have had babies before but mainly guppies, which are not hard at all to get to multiply!! I now have the baby in a separate little tank of it's own and decided to keep the mom (bc im not toooo sure which it is, but pretty sure its the blk female platy) in the original tank so i don't stress her out too badly, if it is even her! I have been watching all day and havent found anymore....They all seem to be chasing each other around(allot of the times, i noticed, they chase the one in labor) Usually i can tell which is preggo by the big bellies but none look it.. so im guessing this happened the other day after i did the water change and this is the only one left (it does look bigger then im used to seeing them after birth)...i sure hope not!! I guess time will tell!

..This is just a really exciting experience for my son and wanted to share! Hopefully we can learn some new things!! Please any advice is Much Appreciated!!!! (I'll try to put pics up later maybe someone can help figure out what our mystery platy/molly is..thats a whole nother story lol)