Babies Into Main Tank.....

[Irf]

How big should my baby platies be before I release them into the community aquarium?

Thanks,

Irf.

 

[donna123]

hi,
as long as they are big enough not to be eaten they should be fine

 

[Irf]

Thanks, but what sort of size would that be? 1cm?

Irf.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

depends what other fish are in the tank, you need to look at the size of they're mouths!

there's a good guide here on how to handle your fry

 

[Irf]

Thanks Miss Wiggle...... I guess I'll wait a while longer then. The largest fish I have are Siamese Algae Eaters, Yo-Yo Loaches, Blue Rainbowfish and Dwarf/Sunset Gouramies.

The link you sent is very useful, but it says to wait 3 months. It doesn't mention size. As I said, I'll wait!

Irf.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Thanks Miss Wiggle...... I guess I'll wait a while longer then. The largest fish I have are Siamese Algae Eaters, Yo-Yo Loaches, Blue Rainbowfish and Dwarf/Sunset Gouramies.

The link you sent is very useful, but it says to wait 3 months. It doesn't mention size. As I said, I'll wait!

Irf.

oh I thought it had size in, have a look at the other pinned topics then, there's one of them that say's it.

 

[nmonks]

Deciding when you're going to move the babies in with the parents depends on lots of factors. So species are more predatory than others. Platies seem, to me, to be fairly good. Once the babies are about 1 cm long, they're probably fine with the parents, particularly in a planted tank. My halfbeaks are absolutely fine with youngsters around 1.3 cm long. Other species are more predatory, and both guppies and mollies have a bad reputation for eating their fry. For them you'll want to wait until the babies are about the size of a neon tetra, say 1.5 to 2 cm long.

It also depends on other tankmates. Angelfish, pim pictus catfish, and most tetras are adept at eating fry and will not hesitate to do so. It's unwise to put in anything small with them. Since angels will gobble up neons without a second thought, they shouldn't be trusted with anything smaller than those.

Personally, I like to err on the side of caution. It's also a good idea not to mix parents and offspring unless you deliberately want to cross breed them. You run the risk of in-breeding. Far better to sell off your baby fish, and buy in "new blood" with the proceeds. Most aquairum shops are happy to take in good quality, locally bred fish because they're pre-adapted to the local water chemistry. Locally bred fish also tend to be hardier than wild-caught fish and more willing to take things like flake food, though this refers more to things like halfbeaks than standard livebearers.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[sussexgirl]

How big should my baby platies be before I release them into the community aquarium?

Thanks,

Irf.

I must admit I released my platy fry into my main tank when they were just 4 and half weeks old. I haven't had any problems at all and the fry swim about very happily and confidently with the adult platys, tetras, molly and Corys. I'm planning on taking them all to my LFS when they're ready which I've been told is when they're approx 1 inch.