Healthy Fry Dying?

[LilMuppet]

Well I've been keeping fry since April and over the last week three have died. Technically only two, but one was on his way out so I fed him to the rest of the fish so that he wasn't nibbled alive by the fry in the breeder with him!

Is it just survival of the fittest or could it had been a weak batch of fry? All three fry were similar size - about three to four weeks old. Gutted now as the last one to die was named 'Mini Merlin' because he was the first carbon copy of his dad, although he was slightly deformed as there was a slight kink where his tail met with the rest of his body.


All fish seem fine, our Cherry Barb males are very happy and displaying their beautiful colours as is our Swordtail. No deaths outside of the breeder!

 

[theotheragentm]

In every batch of fry, you will have weak fry most of the time. Normally these are eaten as they don't swim as well. It's pretty common to have some of the fry die even if they are separated from larger fish. Bent fish are quite common in batches of fry as they are bred over and over along the same lines. This is how you get colors and shapes you like, but this also magnifies genetic weaknesses.

 

[LilMuppet]

Well that would make sense as in this batch I was able to catch them quicker and so more survived, but in early batches on a couple had survived after a day of hiding.

 

[theotheragentm]

Yup. I caught the last and final batch of Platy fry in my tank first thing in the morning, probably just after being birthed, as they were all floating right up top near the mother. I had three that looked like Balloon Platies and two with bent spines, because I caught them so soon. That's kind of why I'm a fan of letting nature take its course in a tank rather than capturing the fry.