Platy Birthing Issues

[will4u]

i am experienced breeding many egg laying fish, but this is my first time with a live bearer,

i had a pregnant platy in a community tank, i removed her and put her in a 10 gallon bare bottom tank by herself with an established sponge filter,

about a week later (yesterday) she started giving birth and i was lucky to catch her in the act, however every time she would give birth, the fry would kind of swim along the bottom of the tank and the mother would chase it and eat it withing about 2 seconds!!!

i had to go out for about 5 hours, i decided to turn the tank light off, thinking it might help the fry escape the mom, it was afternoon so the room was still bright, just the tank light turned off,

when i returned home i turned the tank light on and there were about 5-6 fry swimming in the tank, that i guess she never caught, it was about 8 pm at night (still light outside and in the room), i wasnt sure if i should leave the light on all night or not (which i never do) so i ended up turning it off, i left the mom in there cause i wasnt sure if she was finished birthing, her belly still looked really bloated,

this morning there are only 2 fry left, so i removed the mom and put her back in the community tank, needless to say this was very disappointing, but i want to learn for next time,

how do i prevent the mom from eating the fry?
should the light be on or off while she is birthing? or does it matter?

also, how long does it take platys to give birth?, meaning from the time the first fry pops out, till the time the last one comes out?

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to add cover; lots and lots of it, so the fry can hide. Fine leaved, live plants, like cabomba, are best (as they're soft and provide a source of microscopic foods for the fry's first few days, as well as helping, a little, with water quality), but plastic or silk fake ones will do.

Once you have enough cover, then having the light on or off won't make difference.

The birthing process is usually over quite quickly (within an hour or two), but if the fish feels stressed, as she very well might in a bare tank, she can hold onto the fry for longer.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Big fish eat little fish....even their own young. As mentioned, you need cover for fry to hide. Java or another of the mosses is good. So is guppy grass and floating plants like water sprite, frogbit, hornwort, anacharis, etc. All give fry a place to hide.