How Do I Feed My Fry If I Don't Know Where They Are?

[redwagplatycuties]

Hello! My new arrivals of platy fry have arrived last night,and I have a problem. How do I feed them and how do I know that they got food???
This came up when today, I lifted up a small decoration that was planted firmly on the tank floor that I thought there was no possibility that fry were hiding under, and a small fry floated up to the top of the tank. I thought that it was alive, then realized that if it was alive, it would have swam away from the big fish that tried (and succeeded) in eating it. So, do my fry have empty stomachs that lead them to die? If so, what do I do about this? I know that some fry are hiding under the other decoration I have, but I don't want to lift it up in case that all the fish are alive (and get eaten by big fish) and in case that all the fish are dead (I just don't want to see tiny, motionless bodies floating upwards in the tank ). Thank you! All replies are welcome!

 

[Ninjouzata]

You can crush up the food you're feeding the other fish for them. Maybe put it in a syringe and squirt it under the decoration? Keep the tank really clean as this is a bit messy

 

[redwagplatycuties]

Okay! I'll try the syringe! Thanks

 

[spencer_41188]

you can also try a tank divider where you think they may be, get a breeder net for around 3.00 that way you can see them safely in the net and remove the divider, you will have to catch them though

 

[redwagplatycuties]

Thank You!! I just got a tank divider!!

 

[the_lock_man]

Remember that platies have been successfull breeding this way for thousands of years. In the wild, those that are strong enough are able to hide and they are able to find sufficient food.
 
Obviously, in an aquarium, there is a need for some human intervention, because food won't miraculously appear from nowhere, but if you provide some food (crushed flake, or proprietory fry food), the strong ones will find it, and will survive.
 
What you don't want is to intervene too strongly, and have a lot of weaker fish surviving, because you've nursed them in a fry-trap or breeding box. You will quickly find you have too many fish (the next batch of fry is due 4-6 weeks after the last), and platies are not easy to rehome.
 
This isn't really an emergency, so I have moved it to the Livebearers section.

 

[redwagplatycuties]

Okay I'll try to crush up the food more, thanks for helping!

 

[spencer_41188]

also look at the size of your biggest fish's mouth when you think they are big enough that they cant be swallowed by him or her, you can let the fry go

 

[LyraGuppi]

I would drop some sinking or flake food into the tank just before lights-out, and in the morning it seemed like they were happy. But you have to remember not all the fry will definately survive, as "the_lock_man" said.

 

[Guppy2206]

If you have special fry food put some around the area of the decoration. Another thing I did was put a sinking algae wafer directly beside the decoration so they can hide if needed, and they can nibble at it once it softens and it will last them for a while. Good luck with the fry!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Most fry are born with the instinct to hide. They like to hide in places which are so small and hard to get into that other fish cannot.
 
Livebearer adults will eat fry, but providing lots of cover mitigates this. What I found was the biggest treat to the newest fry was not the adults in the tank but other fry born earlier which have grown enough to be able to eat new fry and are also still small enough themselves to fit into the sort of places new fry hide. New fry love to hide in plants and older fry can get them there.
 
One benefit to livebearers is that the fry do not need the typical fry food many other newborn fish do. You can crush flakes almost to a powder for them.

 

[spencer_41188]

my dad, had something for his fry, called hikari first bites, it was like a powder, I believe he baught it from petsmart but whether you would be able to find it, is up in the air. I think it may have been discontinued