Platy giving birth...I have a few ?'s.

[e burna]

Ok, I have a 29 gallon tank. There is 1 pregnant platy in the tank. She was looking pretty big the last few days. Well, this evening I noticed 2 little baby's swimming around near some plants very slowly. They are sooo cute (lol, that sounded a little gay didn't it?). Anyway, I'm wondering how likely they are to be eaten? My tank is fairly planted, real plants and a few fake ones as well. There is also a big (fake) wooden structure thing in the tank as well. The 2 I saw were near the side of the tank and near the base of a plant, so I hope that they have made it to safety. I'm also wondering, do platy's have all their baby's at once, or could she have just had a couple, and then have more later? Also, what's an average amount for baby's? Thanks for reading, here's what I have in my tank, just curious if any of these are more known for "baby eating" than others?

7 cory's
1 cardinal tetra
1 pregnant/formerly preg. platy
1 pleco (who hides all the time)
1 clown loach (who seems to be following the platy around, is this a bad sign?)
3 sissortail tetras

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to reading your replies.

[TankGirl]

Congrats on your fry!! No matter how many times you see fry in your tanks, it is always an exciting event, no doubt about it

Your girl might drop a few here and there over a day or two, and depending on whether or not she has done this before, she could have under 10 or more like 20. Some are going to be lost when they are dropped in the main tank, but if you have enough cover you will increase your population slowly and only the strongest will make it. Many would recommend that you put the female in a breeding net or in her own tank when she drops the fry so you can save more of them, but you have to have a plan for the resulting fish if you go that route.

[kaaikop]

Congratulations! and Kudos on the way
I have a similar scenario going on in my tank, couple of baby platies hiding in the
plants... agree, they are very cute! I think some of em will make it, although I
read somewhere that they take a long time to get to a "non-eatable" size... the
tetras can eat them, they are carnivorous AFAIK, but the more plants in your tank,
the better!

[e burna]

I saw 2 little ones near the gravel. They are white and the gravels black. My plant is fairly well planted. I was wondering what the chances are of my young fish surviving w/out any assistance? How many can I expect to live, if any?

[ace1uno_00]

congrats on fry!
i would say each fry has a 50/50 chance.

[cougaran]

It might be less than 50/50, esp with the cory's. The more heavily stocked your tank is the more likely someone is going to make a meal out of them. If you really want them to survive, the cheap way is getting a breeder cage for them. They hang on the inside of the tank and attach with clips. Walmart sells them for $4 or any fish store. Try to get one that is made out of netting because it allows the water to circulate through. Cleaning up the breeder is easy too, just get an apple/mystery snail and plop them in once in awhile, they wont eat the fry.

[e burna]

Thanks, think I'll get the breeder tank today.

[e burna]

I couldn't find the breeder tank, so I just took some of the water from the original tank and put it in a little fish bowl. I know I should crush up food for them, (there are 2) but how often should I feed them? Also, how long before they are big enough to put back in the tank? Also <huff huff> are they ok being in a bowl like that with stagnant water? They really are tiny, maybe only a few days old. Thanks for reading again.

[krap101]

hmm... a bowl... you might want to put lke an airstone or something in there if you can... or some sort of plant

[e burna]

Originally Posted by krap101

hmm... a bowl... you might want to put lke an airstone or something in there if you can... or some sort of plant

How much food and how often each day?

[TankGirl]

Feed twice a day, a very small amount, and make sure they are eating it. I'd do daily water changes, also, in the absence of filtration.

Krap101 is right about the air stone and the plant, and some direct sunlight would not hurt either.

[linz85]

i feed 4-6 times a day with the liqufry stuff...hope this helps

[e burna]

How long before they're big enough to place in the tank?

[TankGirl]

I think they'll need to be about 1.5cm to be safe. By then you'll have a new batch of babies

[TomK2]

Well, I don't know how many times I have platy fry in my tank. Mostly because they are eaten fairly quickly in a community tank. Those that aren't gobbled up right away are the ones that are good at hiding, so you don't see them either. I have found live fry in my canister filter without seeing them in the tank, so you might want to put a sponge over the filter intake. I think the chased fry seek shelter near or in the intake and get sucked up.

I would think that you would have all the fry in about 24 hours. I noticed fry in a breeding tank one morning, then a few more in the afternoon, and the next morining I was up to 6. No more after that. I think they were dropped over the day, but they could have been dropped all at once and I didn't see them all till the next day. Platy fry are all the same gestational age, so they need to deliver around the same time.

I have seen pregnant platies in my community tank on multiple occasions over the last 3 months, but so far I have the same number of adult platies. My conclusion, none survive in a communitytank with angelfish and danios. I had six deliver in a breeding tank, all six are still growing. With angelfish in my community tank, I intend to grow them out to near an inch before putting them in with the angels.

I fed them frozen baby brine shrimp mostly for the first two weeks, since then mostly crushed flake food. I still use both, but the frozen BBS 4:1 early on, and flakes 4:1 now. I have fed as little as 2 times a day and as much as 4 times a day. I fed more often in the first 2 or three weeks, but also changed the water and cleaned it daily then too. Now I do a water change and bottom vac every other day since very little food gets past them.

Now matter how easy it is to get fry, it still is a thrill to raise them.

photos: March 17 and April 28

[e burna]

I put a little bit of crushed up food in the top of their bowl yesterday. It's still sitting there. Will they eat it on their own?

[TomK2]

frozen baby brine shrimp is easiest for them in the first few weeks. The shrimp stay in suspension for a while. The flakes have to be crushed into a fine powder when the are little, and it helps to soak it in a little water so it sinks a bit. It seemed that it took my platy fry a couple of weeks to become surface feeders.