HELP!! Swordtail just had fry!

[luckyme0820]

Hi...My Pinneapple swordtail just had fry. They are in a breeders net right now. 3 of them are hiding in little slots, 2 died, and 1 was swimming around. I checked later and the 1 is now at the bottom. Are they going to survive? Do fry usually keep swimming around? Or do they get tired and stop swimming?

 

[mattrox]

If you can, transfer them into a small tank. I guess 5 gal would do. Have it planted with ambulia or cabomba for hiding places. I treat brrding nets as a temporary shelter.

I am not sure of the specifics of swordtails, but mu baby guppies sometimes have a rest.

 

[TankGirl]

My molly fry sometimes do that, but go ahead and get them into their own tank. I leave mine alone in the tank of just mollies, without using a breeder net, and I still have more mollies than I know what to do with (parents probably eat some of them), but if they are in a community tank they are likely to be eaten if you do not remove them. The breeder net is not the best place for them to be once they swimming around.

 

[myriam]

Ditto for me. I have a ton of fry now from my platies and mollies, and I never used a breeder net. They hide in the gravel and plants, and when they get big enough they just start coming out more, and it's quite a surprise.

From what I have heard the breeder net isn't the best for them because the water in there isn't as good as the water in the rest of the tank. If you want fry to survive I'd suggest putting a lot of plants in your tank, or even a pile of rocks or marbles, for the fry to hide in.

Don't worry if this batch doesn't all make it. Livebearers give birth every 4-6 weeks. One day you will find yourself overrun with them!

Good luck. HTH.

 

[PlatyLady]

Same goes for me. I always notice fry hiding in the gravel and under decorations. Innate survival skills that keep them from being mom and dad's dinner. I don't do anything special for my fry (except being a little more careful with the gravel vac), and I've had a few survive so far. I prefer to let "nature" take it's course than be waaay to overstocked.

Have fun watching your fry grow up!

 

[platylover]

I also raise my fry in the main tank as well. I just added a ton of fake plants to make my tank more fry friendly. I let nature take it's course since I am getting well overstocked. When I was raising fry in a breeder trap I noticed that my platy fry would take rests when they were very young and as they got older the rests were basically at night. Myriam is right about the water in the breeder nets not being as good as the water in the main tanks. The breeder nets resrict the flow of water almost to the point that the net acts like a fish bowl. Several times a day the water in the net needs to be "changed". I would suggest either their own tank or put a lot of hiding places in the main tank and release them into the main tank.

Another thing that I noticed is that the fry that are raised in the breeder nets will grow a lot slower than the ones raised in the main tank and that the net raised fry are usually weaker when they finally are large enough to release into the main tank.

 

[PK Tester]

I hate breeder nets...but I had to do it...my 10 gal fry tank is not all the way cycled...java moss is GREAT for fry to hide in and require low light and no special nutrients. Only one problem with it...it can OVER RUN your tank if your not careful...I had to wack at mine. It got to be the size of a basketball if I was to wad it up. covered almost the whole bottom of my 12 gal...

 

[luckyme0820]

Thank you for everyone's advice. It has helped me out a lot. Unfortunately 2 got eaten. But there is one soul survivor!