New and Freaking out

[NimbusPrime]

Yesterday, I bought four platys and put them in a 5 gallon tank. Today, coming home from school I noticed that one of my females (Lass) was hiding in the cave I have provided. Moments later, I saw a fry pop out of the cave. Not what I expected at all! So now, it seems, I have gotten babies for the price of just mom. Mom is still in the cave with one of the males (Sunny) while another male (Sage) swims on top, and the other female (Sage) hides in the plants.
There is also a baby rubber-lip pleco (Oz) hanging out to the side of the cave.

Now, as I said, I JUST bought these fist LAST NIGHT. I did not expect babies (not this soon anyway) and I have no idea what I should do.
Should I be worried about the males in the tank or the other female? Will they eat the frys? Will this affect my pleco? Should I get a bigger thank now or wait a little to see if the fry survive? And more importantly WILL the fry survive?

Thanks for listening,
Jessica

[stingrays4]

Hi and welcome to AA Jessica that was a surprise that quick Just give the fry plenty of hiding places and crumble up some flake for them to eat. You will lose a few fry to predation from the 'adults' but enough will survive By hiding places i am suggesting,using fine leave plants such as cabomba,and riccia plus many more that i have forgotten the name of

[NimbusPrime]

Thank you for the welcome!
I have a bunch of artificial plants in the tank already, would those do or should I get some real ones?
I crumbled some Freeze Dried brine shrimp cubes for them, but no one's eating. Is that just because they're stressed or is something else wrong? Or did they just get their fill of fry for lunch?
Also, will all this activity affect my rubber lip?
Sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for my new aquatic children.

[stingrays4]

Hi was your tank 'cycled' before adding the fish? Artificial will do for now but live plants are better in my opinion for the fry to hide in. your rubber lip should be ok Can you test your water? As always the more info we got the more likely we can figure out what if anything is wrong
ps love the names of the fishes

[NimbusPrime]

I cycled my tank for 24 hours before I got my fish.
Next time I go into town (i don't have a car so its a little difficult to just up and go) I can get some real plants. Would it be a good idea to just replace the artificial with real ones?
I don't currently have anything to test the water! Sorry. I didn't expect something like this so quickly after getting these guys.
Awe, thanks! I'm very picky with my names :3

[LyndaB]

This tank is way too small for a rubberlip pleco. He could easily reach 7 inches in length.

In my opinion, it's also too small for the platies. You should have at least a 10 gallon for breeding platies.

Please read this article on cycling your tank: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...now/Page2.html

You need to take a test sample to the store and have them give you your exact readings. You need to purchase a test kit, preferably the API master kit.

If I were you, I'd return the fish to the store, purchase a 10 gallon tank if you want platies, and do a fishless cycle.

[stingrays4]

Hi you haven't actually 'cycled' your tank I'm afraid so you need to start doing plenty of water changes,say 20% almost every day and read the link in the post from LyndaB,also you will need to upgrade to a larger tank sometime soon if possible

[siva]

I would have to strongly recommend you take the fish back to the store. A 5 gal tank is not a suitable home for platties, or any pleco. Running the tank for a day first doesn't actually do anything to make it safe for fish. You must first understand how the nitrogen cycle works. Read here, it maps it out nicely: The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle. Now you could do a cycle with fish in, and with a lightly stocked tank and great dedication you can do this without losing fish. But, with your terribly overstocked tank, this isn't going to be possible. Get them out of there before they become ill from the ammonia build up, and do a fishless cycle. Here's a guide: The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling. You will need to invest in a freshwater master test kit. You cannot properly run an aquarium, most definitely not a new aquarium, without one. Once the tank has been cycled, you can stock it with something that can thrive in a tank of 5 gallons such as a single betta, shrimp, and "nano" fish like chili rasbora, ember tetra, scarlet badis, or Endler's livebearers.

[o5otato5o]

leave the guy alone poor guy wanted to start he will learn from mistakes the fish will still be small you want to quickly get a larger tank and 'cycle' your tank for around 6 + week research it

thats how i started by realiseing id done it all wrong mistakes are made to make us wiser cath the fry and get a breeder box if you want to keep them

i started with 41 litre im now on a 166 litre cycled and a 90 litre cycling good luck m8 keep the smaller tank for your fry

[LyndaB]

Originally Posted by o5otato5o

leave the guy alone poor guy wanted to start he will learn from mistakes the fish will still be small you want to quickly get a larger tank and 'cycle' your tank for around 6 + week research it

There's learning from your mistakes, which we highly encourage, and then there's just a really bad set-up, which is what we have here.

What if he has no interest in a larger tank? His situation right now is a dire one and we want him to succeed in this hobby and, of course, we don't want the fish to die.

[o5otato5o]

i agree with what your saying but theres adviseing and theres being downright rude when i first setup i was acused of cruelty as i had a red tale shark in 41 litre i was given no information at the LFS i regards to overall size within a week ov knowing i had a new tank at 166 litre bare in mind the shark is still only 1 1/2 inch

[Cleggat]

Unluckily, like the others said you will need to cycle your tank I never trust the lfs, google and AA are where I go to if I have a question. For the future please remember to research first, cycling can be annoying but it's well worth it!

Originally Posted by o5otato5o

i agree with what your saying but theres adviseing and theres being downright rude

The people replying before are giving advice; we don't want the fish to suffer, they are not being rude they only want to help his situation.

[o5otato5o]

as i said i agree with what there saying but could have been put in a nicer way just my opinion peace out x

[clairelt]

wow thats amazing to have babies! Congratulations on becoming a parent!!!!!!

[siva]

Originally Posted by o5otato5o

i agree with what your saying but theres adviseing and theres being downright rude when i first setup i was acused of cruelty as i had a red tale shark in 41 litre i was given no information at the LFS i regards to overall size within a week ov knowing i had a new tank at 166 litre bare in mind the shark is still only 1 1/2 inch

No posts in this thread, prior to your own, were anywhere near rude. Honestly, I've not a clue what you are even talking about.

@NimbusPrime, please jump in if you have any questions at all. We are happy to help.

[boadams87]

Well with him being a newbie, he can only go by what the LFS told him. Alot of people do rely on them because their suppose to know what they are doing. Everyone of use has made this type of mistake. So b4 u judge him remember you were here at one time.

[Hobgob]

Originally Posted by o5otato5o

as i said i agree with what there saying but could have been put in a nicer way just my opinion peace out x

Well yet could have been like you dumb person research before you by. Just like any pet. You need to research. I think the responses are not rude considering there is a lot that could have been said. They are just saying facts and things that NEED to be done.

[siva]

Originally Posted by boadams87

Well with him being a newbie, he can only go by what the LFS told him. Alot of people do rely on them because their suppose to know what they are doing. Everyone of use has made this type of mistake. So b4 u judge him remember you were here at one time.

The person who started this thread said nothing about what an LFS told them and nowhere, in any post I've read within this thread, did anyone at anytime judge this individual. So, you're really not making any sense.

[Cornstar]

Originally Posted by siva

The person who started this thread said nothing about what an LFS told them and nowhere, in any post I've read within this thread, did anyone at anytime judge this individual. So, you're really not making any sense.

I don't mean to digress from the OP, but I also did sense some criticism that were not considered constructive criticism.


On note, I am very glad we have a new aquarist in the house. I started with 3 comet goldfishes in a 5g. But I learned that 5g was too small for them and it is similar to your situation. Platys are great fish but they poop a lot and a lot of poop leads to a large amount of ammonia which is toxic. I would advise you to get a bigger tank for the Platys and properly cycle a tank to reduce fish loss.

[siva]

Well why don't you quote what wasn't constructive and PM it to that person so we can focus on the OP. This is RIDICULOUS.