Baby fish problem!

[mw2022]

Tank is up and running well but I now have a problem with too many baby platty. Is there anything better I can get to keep the numbers down? I have woken up to 15 babies in there today. Below what I currently have
120 litres
3 Cory
3 platy
2 dwarf gourami
6 little shrimp
4 cardinals

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

They're gonna keep churning out fry I'm afraid, as long as you have female platies. They store sperm, so even if there's no male around, they'll keep popping out fry

eta: Sorry, I was distracted and this wound up shorter than I meant, and not terribly helpful, I'm sorry! If you don't want to be over-run with fry, it's for the best to return the female platies and either choose non-livebearer fish, or only keep male platies. That can work, but need a lot of plant cover for them to sort out their pecking order and squabbles without stressing each other out too much.

 

[mw2022]

They're gonna keep churning out fry I'm afraid, as long as you have female platies. They store sperm, so even if there's no male around, they'll keep popping out fry

eta: Sorry, I was distracted and this wound up shorter than I meant, and not terribly helpful, I'm sorry! If you don't want to be over-run with fry, it's for the best to return the female platies and either choose non-livebearer fish, or only keep male platies. That can work, but need a lot of plant cover for them to sort out their pecking order and squabbles without stressing each other out too much.

I wish the people at the shop would be more helpful! I will see if I can return the female. This is my setup, would it be enough hiding? (It’s actually my daughters tank hence the decor)

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I wish the people at the shop would be more helpful! I will see if I can return the female. This is my setup, would it be enough hiding? (It’s actually my daughters tank hence the decor)

I'm so sorry - you found out the hard way that fish store employees are often useless! Never trust their advice! It's an easy mistake to make, you should be able to rely on their info. But they often bluff their way through when they have no idea, or they just want to make a sale and have you leave.

Hope your daughter isn't too upset about returning the female... if you swapped it for a male of the same colour, she might not realise... look at the anal fin to tell male from female. Female has the fan shape, males pointed.
These fish in the pic are mollies, but the fin difference is the same.

If you're gonna have more than one male platy, some more plant cover would definitely help.. and the gourami would really appreciate some floating plant cover too. They naturally hunt around the surface, and are also naturally wary of being out in the open, since they don't know there aren't any predators here! Floating plants helps them all feel more secure. Something like frogbit, salvinia, water lettuce, any of those would work and help the fish feel more secure.

The fluffy plant on the left is a good one, that's limnophilia sessilflora. You could trim the tops from those and plant them elsewhere to make more hiding spots, and letting those stems grow to the surface will provide hiding spaces and block lines of sight for the whole height of the tank. I bet your fry hide in that plant a lot! Mine certainly did

 

[mw2022]

Thank you so much for your help! I’ve ordered some water lettuce.
One more question, are there any plants that will grow along the bottom in the gravel with some good coverage?

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thank you so much for your help! I’ve ordered some water lettuce.
One more question, are there any plants that will grow along the bottom in the gravel with some good coverage?

Very welcome! The fry and the gourami will definitely enjoy that! It's fun to watch the gourami moving delicately around the floating plant roots, hunting for insects and making their own little territories.

Hmm, that's trickier, carpeting plants usually do better in high tech tanks with CO2. But I think there are a few you could try. I'm blanking on names right now, @Wills is better at aquascaping and will likely know some!

 

[Wills]

Some plants will over lower ground cover but a full carpet effect is only really doable in Co2 tanks. You can look at things like Dwarf Saggitaria which you can get in potted or invitro posts. Marilea species can be a good option, Hirsuta is the most common aquarium one but there is a pond plant called Hirsuta Quadrifolia that can do well in a tank - leaves look like 4 leaved clovers. An other one is Hydrocotyle Vulgaris which is one of my favourites at the moment https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/in...e1wFhBrA8RUUEC5oGiResPGUEdfJxpUcaAvc5EALw_wcB

 

[Colin_T]

Either have males or female platies only. If you have females, they will continue to drop young for 6 months or so and then stop. Then no more babies.

You need a picture on the back of the tank to make the fish feel more secure.

You need aeration/ surface turbulence to stop oily films form developing on the surface and to keep the oxygen levels high.

If you get new fish, try to quarantine them for a couple of weeks before adding them to the tank. This will reduce the chance of adding diseases to the tank with the new fish.

 

[mw2022]

Either have males or female platies only. If you have females, they will continue to drop young for 6 months or so and then stop. Then no more babies.

You need a picture on the back of the tank to make the fish feel more secure.

You need aeration/ surface turbulence to stop oily films form developing on the surface and to keep the oxygen levels high.

If you get new fish, try to quarantine them for a couple of weeks before adding them to the tank. This will reduce the chance of adding diseases to the tank with the new fish.

I have bought a background, I’m busy waiting for my partner to stick it on.
Do I need some sort of air stone for this? Can you please recommended something? I’ve had a look but I’m unsure what I would need
Thank you

 

[Slaphppy7]

Either have males or female platies only. If you have females, they will continue to drop young for 6 months or so and then stop. Then no more babies.

Then, the babies mature, and the cycle continues....

 

[mw2022]

Then, the babies mature, and the cycle continues....

I’ve decided we are going to remove the female but it’s going to be tricky making sure all the babies are out as well

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I’ve decided we are going to remove the female but it’s going to be tricky making sure all the babies are out as well

Luckily, platy babies mature a bit slower than guppies, so don't breed quite as early. By about 12 weeks old they'll be large enough to rehome, but not reproducing yet, so you have time, can raise them until old enough to sell/rehome/take to a store without them popping out babies of their own.