How Big Should Platy Juveniles Be

[Glod]

I have ... 20.. 30... 50.. + Platy fry and juveniles in my 4 ft community tank. Partly due to them being my first fish and not knowing how to sex them, and partly due to the shop I got the from not caring to sex them, lol.

Anyway I was wondering how big you guys think I should grow them so they have a fighting chance of acclimatising to a new home ?

The largest ones in the group are about 3/4 of an inch and from there they dwindle down to newborn. The biggest ones must be 10 weeks or so old now. I daresay they'd have gown faster in a fry tank but I don't have a grow-out tank so they take their chances in the community, it's well planted tho and most of the other fish don't seem to bother them going by the amount of survivors

My LFS said he'd take them when they are about an inch, is that a reasonable size to aim for ?

 

[theotheragentm]

Are these fry in the community tank now? It's been my impression that some fry, no matter how small, don't get bothered. There's no reason for this and I have seen this in many tanks. A small fry will be swimming around, definitely snack-sized, and he will be untouched. Others are eaten right away.

If they are an inch in length, they should have no problem in a big tank. That's plenty big. Really you're talking about whether or not they are big enough not to be eaten. I think at 3/4" they should be okay too, but I've been surprised at what adults can fit in their mouths a few times. It's also been my experience that fry kept in separation from adults don't know to avoid adults. If they're not big enough and rejoin the community, they get chomped.

 

[Glod]

Yes, the fry are all in the community tank where they were born. They live alongside Pearl Gouramis, Zebra Loaches, Cardinal Tetras, Corys, plecs, amano shrimp and of course their parents.
I'm assuming that some of the fry do get eaten, but a fair few are growing happily. I do notice that (I have 2 colours of platy in the tank) one colour (blue mickey mouse) seems to grow much more quickly than the other (orange wag). I wonder why that is...
Anyway sounds like an inch is a reasonable benchmark. I think the first lot of blues should be ready in a couple of weeks. I better go warn the lfs of impending platys, lol.

 

[theotheragentm]

Just so you know, my responses were based on Platies only. I'm not sure how other fish react to the fry, but like I said, sometimes the small fry swim around like they're the boss of the tank and no one bothers them.

 

[PoPoV]

My fry will be 4 weeks old next monday. IMHO Their big enough to have a fighting chance now. Although my fry have been "hoged" out. I fed them about 8 times a day for the first 3 weeks. I doubt the LFS would want them though intill they are about the size of the parents.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would ask the lfs about this one. Tbh it's not just about what size if best for the fish, it's also about what size they can sell.

 

[PoPoV]

I would ask the lfs about this one. Tbh it's not just about what size if best for the fish, it's also about what size they can sell.

well said.

 

[Glod]

I would ask the lfs about this one. Tbh it's not just about what size if best for the fish, it's also about what size they can sell.

As I said in the first post, the lfs will take them at 1 inch, I just wanted to be sure they fish would be ok at that size for accilmatising to a new tank etc. I would have let them grow a bit more if that was reccomended.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would ask the lfs about this one. Tbh it's not just about what size if best for the fish, it's also about what size they can sell.

As I said in the first post, the lfs will take them at 1 inch, I just wanted to be sure they fish would be ok at that size for accilmatising to a new tank etc. I would have let them grow a bit more if that was reccomended.

Sorry, need new glasses An inch sounds fine to me; they're pretty well grown up at that size.

 

[Charlie06]

Can't say about platties cause ours are only about 3 weeks old, but we tried one of our guppy babies in the community tank and had to remove it because it was being persued by all the fish in the tank. It wasn't harmed and we removed it straight away. The baby was just short of an inch in length. We are going to wait till they are about an inch and a half before we take them to the shop.