molly guppy platy questions

[freshwaterashley]

Hello my name is ashley ive had my tank for about a month now. This is not the first time i have had a tank. I have mollies guppies and platys. I currently have 3 pregnant dalmation mollies and one pregnant guppy. I have many questions but im going to ask only a few at a time. Any advice is good advice in my book

For starters. One of my fish (not certain which) dropped fry last night and i managed to save 8 of them. They are in a small beta tank. My problem is that i have a molly who is days away from dropping and im not sure if it would be safe to put her in the small tank with the new fry to separate her so she can give birth. Will she eat the already exsisting fry? Also.. is it common for a female to eat her own fry? Im trying to save as many as i can because i trade them to a local pet store.

That is all for now, again any advice will help.

 

[pcdebb]

if the fry do not have places to hide, the parents will eat them. if you have enough decorations and/or plants in the tank, then the fry have a better chance of surviving. Generally the rule applies: if they can fit in the mouth of the adults, they will be eaten.

 

[freshwaterashley]

Ive heard that before. Priblem is i dont have and cant afford a breeding net atm so i am using a beta tank. The first batch of fry were unexpected and i had already planned to put my pregnant molly in there for her to give birth without stress. So basically yes they could possibly get eaten by her but i need to separate her within the next 24 to 48 hrs. Should i find a bowl or aomething to put her in instead? And if she has them in the middle of the night and i dont remove her immediately after.. will she eat her own fry? I have been told that molly dont typically eat their own young. But i know guppies will in a heartbeat and giving birth can make you hungry lol... i know.. so many questions.. my head is swimming with them.

 

[Autumnsky]

You don't want to over feed, but if you maybe have the ability to divide what you might normally feed your fish into 3 or 4 small meals, they would be less hungry, therefore less likely to eat the babies. But any of the fish could decide to eat them, not just the mom, so lots of hiding area is really good. Also you could possibly create a divider for your main tank with some of the counted cross stitch plastic mesh and sew together pieces for what ever size you needed. I think if you arched it like a rainbow out corner to corner...

This would be looking down into the tank... brackets are the tank and the parenthisis is the plastic mesh [) ] ..... but the arch braced into the corners of the tank, big enough to give some swimming space and a darker color might help. Those panels are around .79 each, just stitch them together with cotton coat thread or fishing line.

temporary I guess but possibly work, and when you say Betta tank, there's no Betta in there right?

I would recommend Hikari First Bites.

 

[freshwaterashley]

That is a great idea. I never thought of that. I love finding out ways to improve my tank with wveryday household items. I will definitely try that.. thanks!

 

[freshwaterashley]

New question... what is the male to female ratio that is best for breeding and an allaround happy tank.? I have 2 female guppies and one male atm and the male seems to beat up on the females constantly.. is that normal? Also i have 1 platy and she seems to be very lonely. I sometimes catch her swimming up and down the sides of the tank as if she is playing with her own reflection.. would she be happier if i had a few more platy friends for her to play with? He doesnt seem to ve interested in socializing and it kind of makes me worry.

 

[freshwaterashley]

My new fry.. not sure yet if they are molly platy or guppy.. is there any way to tell?

 

[freshwaterashley]

I think they might be from the platy because she is now alot smaller than she was when i bought her

 

[Autumnsky]

My first guess would be the Platy due to the coloration at the base of the tail, but just a guess.

The Platy will have a wide tail section between the back of the dorsal fin and tail (more stubby/compact looking). Stubby looking as opposed to more thin and elongated like the guppy. You should know in a few days as the color, pattern comes up.

I just had some more Rainbow Blue Platy fry a couple days ago too!

Guppy fry came on Wednesday, they went to a new home already.

 

[freshwaterashley]

Ohh blue platy? Do you have pics? Those sound beautiful

 

[freshwaterashley]

Yes i did notice they are much more stubby than guppies usually are, and they all pretty much have the same black stripe right before their tail fin

 

[Autumnsky]

Ohh blue platy? Do you have pics? Those sound beautiful

They are super gorgeous, lol! Babies are so adorable and already got colored some the first week! look for images of the Rainbow Platy or Rainbow blue Platy online.

Mine look prettier than the images, much more blue. My camera is bad for pics, but i will try. They are in my QT as I haven't moved and changed my tank yet, 32G, and very happy evidently! They will be going into a new tank very soon.

Color for body is grey to blue metallic turns to orange red / reddish orange and black tail.