Platy Fry Discovery!

[Bettafanatic]

So today I was just observing my tank as usual and I discovered some fry! And since I currently only have platies they have to be platy fry.

I counted four of them. Two are hiding under a large rock and the other two are hiding in a piece of driftwood. There might be more but I'm not sure.

Anyways, I can't move them to their own tank so I'll leave them in with the adults and hope for the best, but is there anything I should do to make sure they grow up safely? Should I get a net breeder eventually to raise them in? And how should I feed them it they're lose in the tank without attracting the piggy adults? Or should I just leave them to their own device?

And do you think a net breeder will be necessary eventually or will they be able to grow up in the main tank?

Oh, and one more question. Now that I've spotted fry, can I expect more on the way?

Thanks!

 

[Laurie]

You most certainly can expect more! If you have a breeding pair they will do what they do. LOL! You probably have more then the four you've seen. They are really good at finding hiding spots. I started off with breeding nets and such but ended up just leaving them to their own devices. You can quickly become over populated unless you can rehome them easily. I ran out of folks to take them! I think everyone I know has some of my platies LOL!

 

[Bettafanatic]

So if I just leave them on their own they should be okay? Because I know that usually when raising fry one would feed them 5-6 times a day and everything. Will they find food?

 

[Bettafanatic]

My tank has enough algae to feed a hundred of them too

 

[nereksnad]

greetings.

when i have platy fry in my community tank, i don't rehome them. but rather i feed with crushed flakes and a bit more than normal so the fry can pick some up, ofcourse this isn't a perfect way of managing fry and if i had a way of getting rid of the new fish i would put effort into making as many survive as possible, but this method did bring me from 5 to 15 platies in one and a half years. as long as you have dense plant growth for them to hide in and a fine net over the filter intake some of them sould be able to survive.

sincerely,
nereksnad.

 

[Bettafanatic]

THanks for the input nereksnad. I'll start feeding crushed flakes more often, and I turned the hob filter off for a little until I get a net over it. Currently I'm just running a sponge filter.

There's just one problem I forgot to mention. I have the platies in there for a fish-in cycle. Would the fry survive the cycling process? I don't even have nitrites yet

 

[nereksnad]

i don't have much experience with the cycling processes of aquarias, but if you have a cycled/safe aquarium i would move the fry there, platies seem to be hardy fish but if you want to see the fry grow up it isn't worth risking.

sincerely,
nereksnad.

 

[Bettafanatic]

I don't have another place for them. My only aquarium currently is this one, besides my bettas but I'm not putting platy fry with bettas. What do you suppose I should do?

 

[nereksnad]

then you sould keep them where they are now and do frequent water changes. the quality of the water is lower when your aquarium isn't fully cycled furthermore feeding plentifully (a little more than usual) so the fry can catch some flakes will contribute to inferior water quality unless you have a buttom feeder that can scavage the small flake pieces.

sinerely,
nereksnad.

 

[Bettafanatic]

then you sould keep them where they are now and do frequent water changes. the quality of the water is lower when your aquarium isn't fully cycled furthermore feeding plentifully (a little more than usual) so the fry can catch some flakes will contribute to inferior water quality unless you have a buttom feeder that can scavage the small flake pieces.

sinerely,
nereksnad.

Okay I'll just try my best. if I have a breeding pair I can always get more later, so for now I won't worry too much. I'll just do frequent water changes and try to feed some crushed flakes and hope the fry find them.