Feeding Fry In The Main Tank

[khaydn]

I was sooo strutting my stuff that despite my tank being new, my levels were doing really well and then... I saw Fry. Now I also notice 2 Platys look like they are heavy with more Fry. And my tank is almost one month old.

Here is what I have:
4 Platys
1 Molly

I have lost:
1 Platy
1 Molly

I can see
5 fry == they are about 1 week old now

my levels are:
7.6 PH
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
ammonia ranges from 0 to .25

SO I used to feed the fish 2-3 per week. Now because I have fry, I am feeding the whole tank every day, putting in large pieces of flakes for the adults and crushed powder of the flakes for he babies. And my tank is suffering== looks cloudy, ammonia is rising.

So the question is How much should I be feeding the pregnant platys and babies? How can I stop from over-feeding the others if I keep everyone in the main tank? I really don't want to run a separate tank. What is the cleanest way to do this so I don't over pollute the tank??

Thank you so much for any guidance on this feeding issue!

K

 

[OldMan47]

You need to do lots of large water changes with gravel vac each time. The frequent water changes will control the ammonia build up until the tank gets cycled and the gravel vac will let you remove any food from the bottom of the tank. It is unfortunate that you are needing to deal with fry before the tank is fully cycled but that is where you have found yourself.