A Couple Of Random Questions

[Akasha72]

Tanks looking really good, nice and natural and colourful

...I predict you getting another bigger one within a year...

Thank you very much, it's slowly starting to mature now. The sword next to the filter has suddenly taken on a growth spurt! It's leaving the others behind.

Bigger tank? ... I'd love one but I'd have to move house first. This flat ain't big enough for a bigger tank ... well it maybe is but me and the dog would have to move out

 

[FishFanatic04]

I put our couch on the street to make room for my bigger one. Consider the options! Do you REALLY need a bed?

Tank IS nice and natural, if that's tannins from the wood I'm seeing... I like tannins..looks like a river.

 

[Akasha72]

once again thank you. I wanted a natural looking enviroment for them ... from the comments I think I might have got it right lol

 

[Akasha72]

Hi again. I have questions regarding my platy fry now and I didn't want to start a new thread.

Okay, as my sig says I've got 14 platy fry born on 10th December 2011. They are getting pretty big now and I'm looking to reduce their numbers and take most to my lfs within the next 2 weeks. Most of the 14 are female, so far there are just two that are definite males.
I've noticed though in the last 24 hours my existing adult male has begun chasing all the babies around (only the females are in the main tank - I've moved to two males into my spare tank) He's becoming quite aggressive. He's paired himself off with the babies mother and has been glued to her side since I got him. I've noticed that if the babies get too close to their mother he chases them away to the back of the tank or into the plants then goes back to her side. It's odd behaviour.

So, I'm now wondering what to do.

I read on another thread on here that interbreeding platies wasn't the issue I thought it to be. It would be okay for the boys to mate with their sisters and mother provided they were showing no signs of deformity (which they arn't)

I'm now wondering if I should keep just one of the boys and 2 or 3 girls. I already have 3 adult female platies and one that I'm pretty certain is a platy/molly cross (she's huge and her face is the wrong shape yet she had the wagtail colours)

The alternative is to let both males go and most of the females - maybe keep just 2?

The reason I'm considering keeping a male baby is down to the existing adult males behaviour. If I add another male maybe his aggressive behaviour will calm down ... it could make it worse of course but I'm thinking down the lines of hieracy (spelling?) and thought another male may just stand up to him and bring him down a peg or two.

What's the thinking here guys? I have the one chance to get this right. I've bred these platies and I'd like to keep a few if possible

 

[soybean]

Keep a female or two if you really want to keep some, but honestly, take the rest away. The more females you have, the more babies you get, and you'll be overrun in no time. Take this from someone who had one male and two females, and took 80 to the lfs.

 

[Akasha72]

I'm not worried about been over-run and taking them to the lfs is no trouble at all - I'd be glad to give them some good quality stock instead of the mass overbred stock that goes to these places.

I really don't know what to do. There's still a piece of me that still loves the old male that died and I'm hoping in a way that one of his 'sons' will look like him.


Argh! blooming decisions ... I hate them

 

[soybean]

Yeah I know how that feels, I also know the relief when they're all gone

Keep however many you want of course. In bred fish do tend to be weaker and you'll end up with a tank full. If you want to keep more platys it might be worth swapping some fry for some unrelated adults from the shop and keeping the lines a bit different.

 

[Akasha72]

I want to keep platies as I really like them but I would like some in different colours. I once saw one that was green - he was gorgeous but I walked away cos it was a male and I only had 3 females and I knew about the ratio's.

Ideally my tank will hold platies, cories and maybe another 2 or 3 oto's (I miss them!)

 

[Akasha72]

I made the decision this morning to take to my baby platies my lfs. I took 10 in total - leaving me with 3 females and a male.

They were thrilled to bits and I was thrilled by their response to them which went something like this

lfs "what you got there?"

me "those baby platies I told you about. My adult male is getting a bit aggressive with them and I know you restock on Thursdays so I thought today might be a good day to bring them (getting them out of the bag) Are they big enough for you?"

lfs "Wow, they look healthy fish, cute aswell,how many is there?"

me "10, I've kept just 4 for myself. 9 are female just one male"

lfs "they are amazing thank you very much. We'll fatten them up a bit more and let them settle in and then they can go on sale"

me "great, I'll say goodbye to them then and have a look round while I'm here"

I had a look round while he floated them in an empty tank and praised me some more for such healthy looking fish. Huge grin from me ... then I spotted a white platy and a yellow and black spotted one ... I'll have those two please! Do I need to pay for them or they gratis for 10 babies...

Take them on us for bringing us those lovely little guys.

RESULT!!!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Haha fun!