Firing Blanks

[manners8]

i've just got my second set of fry in my tank since i set it up in january. i've always had 2 female platies and a male. but its taken almost 6 months for me to get my second lot of fry. was expecting atleast one batch atleast every 2 months but nothing till this sunday.

my only guess on why i've not had them is that my sucking loach may have eaten them over night and i'm none the wiser.

and suggestions on how to improve this breeding process.

 

[LauraFrog]

It's more likely to be the other platies eating your fry than the loach.

This is what I'd buy if you want fry.
5 gallon container - $10
Heater - $15
Cheap fake plant and bark tunnel - $10
Air pump - $15
Corner filter - $8
Total - Around $60. In my opinion, every aquarist should have these items anyway. It's just common sense to have a few backups. If I hadn't had this cheap spare equipment when things went wrong I'd have lost a lot of fish. Shove the junk in the container and stick the whole lot in the cupboard the rest of the time.

When your female is really pregnant and within a few days of giving birth, set up the container. Get a little plastic food container as well and fill it with gravel. (Fry hiding place.) Put the female in the tank. Use a lid, they sometimes jump.
This is a lot safer than little plastic breeding traps. They are fish killers. If your female doesn't die of stress (this is quite common, it sends them crazy) she may abort the fry and you'll lose the whole lot. You can use them for raising very small fry in the main tank and that's really all they're good for unless you catch the fish the moment she starts giving birth and save the fry and then put her straight back in the tank.

When she's had the fry (is no longer fat like she's swallowed a golf ball) put her back in the tank. Then raise the fry.

 

[5teady_2012]

It's more likely to be the other platies eating your fry than the loach.

This is what I'd buy if you want fry.
5 gallon container - $10
Heater - $15
Cheap fake plant and bark tunnel - $10
Air pump - $15
Corner filter - $8
Total - Around $60. In my opinion, every aquarist should have these items anyway. It's just common sense to have a few backups. If I hadn't had this cheap spare equipment when things went wrong I'd have lost a lot of fish. Shove the junk in the container and stick the whole lot in the cupboard the rest of the time.

When your female is really pregnant and within a few days of giving birth, set up the container. Get a little plastic food container as well and fill it with gravel. (Fry hiding place.) Put the female in the tank. Use a lid, they sometimes jump.
This is a lot safer than little plastic breeding traps. They are fish killers. If your female doesn't die of stress (this is quite common, it sends them crazy) she may abort the fry and you'll lose the whole lot. You can use them for raising very small fry in the main tank and that's really all they're good for unless you catch the fish the moment she starts giving birth and save the fry and then put her straight back in the tank.

When she's had the fry (is no longer fat like she's swallowed a golf ball) put her back in the tank. Then raise the fry.

What a absoloute load of garbage.... If used properly, trap are perfectly fine

Yes fry are fine for a few weeks in traps

another load of garbage

Your slating traps over what? your experiences?, if you use them properly you have no problems.

 

[omega59]

i'am starting to use breeders again and i find if you place the fish in and leave her be don't bother her, turn the lights off they will not get scared at all or stressed. also lerned that the much larger breeders that are 2-sided at a tad better than the smaller singler ones.

i must agree with 5teady here what a bunch of garbage you giving people bad advice!

just get a 5-10gal tank and place all the fry in there once they are droped into the breeder. get a heater and a simple spondge filter will do. have fun now!

 

[5teady_2012]

i'am starting to use breeders again and i find if you place the fish in and leave her be don't bother her, turn the lights off they will not get scared at all or stressed. also lerned that the much larger breeders that are 2-sided at a tad better than the smaller singler ones.

i must agree with 5teady here what a bunch of garbage you giving people bad advice!

just get a 5-10gal tank and place all the fry in there once they are droped into the breeder. get a heater and a simple spondge filter will do. have fun now!

Exactly m8, if you right down the dates of drops, you always know roughly when to place them in the trap, also if you have them in for no longer than 48 hours this helps.

When placing a female in a trap, the most important thing is to out the lights allowing her to settle.

I awlays get the big traps where you can put 2 in it as well, using the divider, i always leave the divider out and only place 1 in at a time.

as omega says, bad advice laura stop saying it.

Trap are one of the best things to use for saving fry.

also just to add, traps are good for the females for things like, she is not hassled by other males when ready to drop, she can be of peace on her own.

Also its better making sure she get plent of food ready for the births as she will need the energy.

 

[omega59]

i agree, i keep an eye on mines during the day and if nothing happens at night i will place her in the trap the i nthe morning i'd release her out.

btw 5teady any idea how to get my male balloon molly to mate with the females, i'd love to see some balloon fry but he doesn't seem to mate with anyone at all since i got him 2 months ago or so.

 

[5teady_2012]

i agree, i keep an eye on mines during the day and if nothing happens at night i will place her in the trap the i nthe morning i'd release her out.

btw 5teady any idea how to get my male balloon molly to mate with the females, i'd love to see some balloon fry but he doesn't seem to mate with anyone at all since i got him 2 months ago or so.

make a new thread m8, i dont want to hijack this one lol

 

[manners8]

cheers for the replies, i'm looking for a secondary tank at the moment, just to keep a smaller amount of fish.
I didn't manage to get the female in the breeding trap prior to her givin birth, but caught the fry hiding under the driftwood so i put it in the breeding trap, seems lonely in there,
whats the score with feeding the fry, i have the food for live bearer fry but it states that i feed it 2-4 times a day, is this right? i'm guessing it means 1 or 2 drops per feed.