I'm hoping to get some idea of what to do with my (unexpected) fry over a vacation.

I have already arranged for a neighbor boy to care for our tank while we are gone. We are going to be gone for almost 3 weeks. He can only come every 3 days, as he does not live nearby. The plan was to have him peek in at the fish and feed them every 3 days. (I got the every 3 day idea from this forum...saying it will help keep the fish from being overfed by the boy and to keep the tank clean until I do a water change). Two days ago, we woke up to about a 12 red platy fry. My son pestered me into rescuing them into a breeding tank.

Here's my dilema...I don't have a way to feed the fry 3-6 times per day...only 1 time every three days! I have already called all my local pet stores and no one will take them. Well, they'll take them and put them into their tanks and let them be eaten...but I could do that here!

Will fry survive that scarce feeding schedule? Is it best that I just let them go to be eaten? Any ideas that I haven't thought of yet? I have considered putting an auto feeder over the breeding tank...but I think that would WAAAY over feed them. I can't sink any more money into buying a breeding tank and putting it at the boy's house.

Thanks for any fresh ideas!

Those fry will probably not make it being fed every 3 days. If they are in the tank with the adults, who are used to being fed daily they will probably get eaten. If not, lack of food will thin the ranks.

A fry tank doesn't have to be an actual tank. A dozen fry will do fine in just about any container that holds a couple of gallons. Setting up a rubbermaid container with a sponge filter at this boy's house shouldn't set you back but a few dollars. I grow out angel fry in a 10 gallon the first couple of weeks, 250 at a time. If angels do fine at 25 per gallon, a dozen platys in a gallon or two will be ok, and perhaps add a budding aquarist to the ranks.

In a mature planted tank, they should survive by eating little critters that live off the plants: I've had platy fry born while I've been on vacation and it's worked fine. In a bare breeder tank, it might be harder. If you have plants in your other tank, I would either move the fry in there and let them take their chance, or move the plants into the breeding tank.

So are you saying to stuff all my plants into the little breeder tank? That just might work. I have 3 smallish clumps of live plants. It is only a 10 US gallon tank. So they eat stuff off the plants? Algae? (My mature platy eat up the algae food I put in for our snail!)

Thanks for the ideas.

Get an automatic food feeder as they can feed up to 6 times a day!

Actually get 2, one in each tank