A couple of questions about Platies

[Gruntle]

Hi all,

I have gone for Platies in my 200l tank. I'm pretty happy with the result, as I already have a couple of fry that are putting on some weight and are agile enough to hide from the adults.

Two questions:
1. The females appear to hide while giving birth (a fish count one night had me one short, I eventually spotted her right on the substrate behind an ornament and under my java moss - the next morning I spotted a couple of babies hiding away in the moss). Do the ladies like a bit of privacy while they're in a vulnerable state?

2. I also have a pair of BN Plecos in the tank. It's been nearly a year since they reproduced, and I spotted a single offspring, however it is now missing. Will a Platy take on a baby BN, and how big do you think the BN has to be before the platy decides it's not worth the stomach ache?

 

[hobby5]

1) Yes the female platies like to be left alone while giving birth and hide a much as they can. But normally they would stay close to the surface.

2) This is hard to tell and also depends on the individual fish (size & experience). But imho under normal circumstances platies are no danger for young bristlenose plecos.

 

[Demeter32]

I can't say for certain that a platy will try to eat an entire BN pleco fry, but it might go after them when they are still wigglers.

Don't know if this really applies to all fish, but I've made the mistake of tumbling cichlid fry in the same tank as my slightly older fry. The older fry went after the yolk sacs of the younger ones through the mess on the bottom of the tumbler and broke them. The entire batch was killed off due to damaged yolk sacs. If the platties try going after wigglers (if the dad is lazy) and they manage to damage their sacs then they would die.

Side note, I know that BN plecos are great at hiding, and there are lots of places in a 200L tank. I would try throwing an algae wafer and veggie slice in after lights out, then come back half an hour later with a flash light and see who's munching on the food. You should be able to get a head count on all the plecos in the tank, hopefully you get a little surprise and find babies.

 

[Gruntle]

I'll try the algae wafer trick and see if there are any little ones hiding away. There are plenty of crevices for them to hide in, I have a large mangrove root with lots of buttresses.