Platies - Too Much Fry

[JCLJorgenson]

I have a 10 gallon tank with three adult platies (one male and two females) and one male guppy. A little over a month ago, one platy had about five fry that survived (a few got eaten). I thought it was pretty cool. But now a female just dropped another dozen or so. Unfortunately my 10 gallon is not going to support that population and I have no desire to get another tank going.

Can someone give me suggestions for population control? Can I donate this fish to the local Petco? Is there a good fish to add to my tank that could eat the fry? I had a fire dwarf gourami but he stopped eating altogether (and died) once the smaller fry got larger and started fighting for his flakes.

Alternatively, should I get rid of the one male platy? I have only had these fish a little over a month and think the female was pregant upon arrival.

 

[Fishie]

You could get rid of the male and get all females or just give away the fry to a friend or LFS like petco. Petco might even give you store credit (not a lot) She will have more batches of fry though every 3-4 weeks 3-4 times. So it's up to you deciding what to do. Could feed them to a lot of different fish platys will eat them if small enough .

 

[Livebrearercocoa14]

I think it would be a good idea to get rid of all female fish. I say this because I've bred guppies for years and usually they keep reproducing even if there isnt a male fish in the tank. I would think petsmart would take them.

Good luck with your fish.

Oh and sorry about your fish that stopped eating

 

[cheeky_monkey]

The lfs will take the babies but they need to be a certain size first. Getting them to that size will be your issue since you have nowhere for them to live.
My advice is to rehome the male. Girls will likely have another few batches after he is gone since they can store his sperm but once those are over you will be fine.

 

[Fishie]

The lfs will take the babies but they need to be a certain size first. Getting them to that size will be your issue since you have nowhere for them to live.
My advice is to rehome the male. Girls will likely have another few batches after he is gone since they can store his sperm but once those are over you will be fine.

Yes the batches get smaller has she has them ^

 

[JCLJorgenson]

I recently added a new dwarf gourami late yesterday (not a fire dwarf). This new guy seems very active, in fact I think he can see his reflection on the glass and attacks himself sometimes.

Anyway, when I left for work this morning, there were about a dozen very new platy fry and the five medium sized fry (about 5 weeks old). When I got home this afternoon, there were only 2 of the newbie fry left - the DG clearly went to town on those guys!

It looks like the older fry should make it to maturity and I plan on donating them to Petco.