How To Raise Fry? And.... Is My Female Pregnant?

[Amberleaf]

Okay. Well, FIRST OF ALL, I got my mickey mouse platys a little more than a month ago. I just realized today that two are most DEFINITELY female, and one most likely IS male, because of the straight, thin anal fin.... if that makes any sense.

Okay, so, now, my one female (her name is Neika), is HUGE. She grew quite large (sort-of-fat AND large, about 1 inch or so in size), and I realized that she *might* be pregnant. I can't see little fry eyes just YET, so I'm thinking she might not be that far into pregnancy, if she IS, indeed, pregnant; but she most likely is.

Just above Neika's anal fin, is a little sort of pinkish place (?) behind her belly. I dunno what that is, but it might be fry....? The females and males WERE kept together at the pet store, sooooo....

About how round should she be when (if) she gives birth, how far gone do you think she might be, and how will I raise the fry? My tank stats are in my signature....

I have an (alas, unfiltered) 5-gallon tank that is still set up from when I moved my female betta out of it into the 10g; it doesn't have many ornaments or anything, just a small plastic plant and a treasure chest toy, and some decorative stones on the bottom; would this be fine? I heard somewhere that until the fry are 6 weeks old, they don't *NEED* to be filtered.... But, I dunno.

If they do, in fact, need to be filtered, what do you suggest I do? I don't want to trap any fish in breeding nets or anything, so are there any filters or anything that only require a few weeks of cycling or many none at all; what should I outfit the 5-gal with if I want to keep baby fish in there until they grow up?

I hope that that wasn't TOO confusing.... ;

EDIT: Now, she has a little white spot (sort-of a little white bump or lump or something) near her anal fins, and she is running around near the back of the tank; is this bad? Should I be worried?

 

[helterskelter]

The white spot could be the birthing channel and they give birth every 4-6 weeks so yes she could be very close to giving birth.

With platies you tend not to see thee babies in the gravid spot so you done go by this so must, unlike guppies where you can.

The old betta tank should be ok for a few fry, but if u can use air powered sponge filter, these are great for fry as on the sponge grows a basic food too which the fry love to nibble on.
with out a filter you should do 2-3 water change s a week if you have a lot of fry or they will suffer once their getting larger.

 

[Amberleaf]

....Just a question, do sponge filters need to be cycled?

Because, if not, then I can quickly set up my 5-gallon tank with my Mom's extra sponge filter and heater and I should be good to go when the fry get born!

Should I move the mother platy into the 5-gallon BEFORE she gives birth, or whaa....?!

My teacher has already agreed to take a bunch of the fry, so I want as many as possible to survive. Extra fry will be.... I don't know; put into another tank or sold.

 

[OldMan47]

A sponge filter will go through the same cycle process as any other filter. If you already have a cycled filter, set the sponge up in the new tank and clean your cycled filter in the tank. Once you do that the sponge will be nicely seeded and will just need a bit of ammonia to keep it developing until the fry are born. I doubt it would take over a week to cycle a new sponge that way, that is the longest mine ever take with a good seeding from a mature filter. Even a slightly light cycle on a new sponge will work fine with new fry. Just let the filter mature along with the fry. You will be doing lots of big water changes anyway on a fry tank to keep them growing well. I have gotten away with using a very lightly cycled filter that had only been supporting one adult fish to raise 40 fry and it kept up with their growth rate and never showed any ammonia or nitrites.

 

[Amberleaf]

Okay.... Thanks.

I might be hanging at loose ends *without* a filter for a few days, as it looks like she's going to give birth soon; but my fry would survive without a filter for a couple of days (I hope, right?), so I'll ask my Mom tonight -- Uh, no, WAIT; actually, that might *not* be such a good idea so I'll do it tomorrow.... ^^;

I don't really get what you mean by this sentence: "If you already have a cycled filter, set the sponge up in the new tank and clean your cycled filter in the tank."

I am pretty clueless when it comes to this kinds of stuff (remember, I let my fish get ammonia poisoning before because I didn't realize that you had to cycle a filter XD), so if I could get an in-depth explanation (seriously, lol ), then that would be great, please. Thanks!

 

[OldMan47]

I am assuming that you have a filter on your other tank and that it has been running long enough with fish in the tank to become fully mature. That filter has lots of the right bacteria on it and is what is keeping the ammonia from building up in the other tank. If you use the new tank, with a running new filter, or your mom's old one, to act as the bucket you clean your filter in, it will seed the new filter with the right bacteria. After you do that, all you need to really do is get the bacteria growing better. You could do that by using the fishless cycle method if there are no new fish that need to go into the tank yet or you could use the ammonia from the new fry to finish bringing the new filter along. The original filter goes right back where you got it to keep looking after your other fish.

 

[Amberleaf]

K. So, basically, I should put the cycled filter in the other tank....?

I am PRETTY bad at this stuff. XD So, put the cycled filter in the tank, put the sponge filter in the tank, clean the filter (but how do I do that?), and wait about a week or so? If the fry come before then, then I just need to keep on top of water changes in the new tank, right?

Meh. Sorry, I'm, like, an idiot.

 

[Harlequins]

Get a sponge filter,these are very cheap and run off an airpump,ideal for young fry,put this in the tank you want to put the fry in,like oldman says,the filter media you have in your main tank,take out the media from there and just give it a good squeeze and rinse in your fry tank,this will help 'seed' the new sponge filter.and give it a bit of a kick start with bacteria.
It will make your water go a bit murky but it will settle down

It's best to do this just before you put you fry in there,daily water changes on a fry tank are good also has this promotes good growth for your fry

 

[Amberleaf]

Okay, THANKS!

So, basically I just set up the sponge filter in the new tank and then take out the sponge from the old tank and squeeze it out in there and give it a little bit of a rinse? Ah, I get it now! ^^;

Thanks; do you think that I should put the pregnant platy in there before she gives birth or....? It should help give the bacteria some ammonia to munch on; about how long will the fry tank take to cycle, anyways, if I seed it with mature media? ^^;

 

[Harlequins]

Make sure you put the media back in your main filter after,just keep an eye on the water stats to be on the safe side

Its up to you whether you put your platy in the tank ready,but you will need to treat this has a fish in cycle,so will need to check for ammonia/nitrite while she's in there,because your filter won't be able to handle to much load,and will still need some sort of plant etc for fry to hide in has mum will eat the fry!!

Where has if your let your platy have the fry in the main tank (which requires you catching them) or a breeding trap,once she starts to drop carefully put her in the trap. Then move fry over to the fry tank after, lots of options

The filter sponge will cycle at the rate your fry grow,so by the time they're older the sponge should be able to handle the bio load.

Regular daily water changes will promote growth and try not to overfeed


Good luck

 

[Amberleaf]

Okay, thanks!

I'm kind of stuck with putting the mother in the tank before she gives birth, because my Mom won't let me get a breeding trap and I have horrible netting skills, not to mention that the fry would pass right through the net (because it's pretty large).

I'll see if maybe we go to Wal-Mart I can convince her to go to PetSmart or Big Al's or something (both are close), because Neika hasn't dropped her fry yet and I hope she won't for the next few days.

So, I can put the fry right into the tank and it'll be fine, because they're so small it'll just cycle with them? I'm determined, now, to make my Mom buy me a breeding trap.... Thanks!

 

[OldMan47]

No need for a breeding trap if you have a separate birthing tank. Get your filter going on the new tank for a day or two after seeding it, then add in your adult female and make sure you go to Big Al's and get some java moss for that tank. Walmart and Petsmart will not have any. The java moss will save many of the fry and the adult female can go back to the main tank the day after the drop.

 

[Amberleaf]

My Dad is going to The Source and I DID originally ask him to let me tag along so I could buy a breeding trap.... I haven't set up the new tank yet, though; so, if I go with him should I just get the Java Moss anyways? And should I put it in my main tank until it's time? Because I'm worried that the Java Moss will die or something if I put it in before setting up the filter.... But meh. >

Are you sure that seeding the new tank by cleaning the sponge from the main tank in it won't set the main tank back into a cycle? Because.... I don't exactly want my fish to die, or anythings.... But, then again, my Mom has cleaned it in TAP WATER before and it was fine, soo....

I'm going to go see if she will let me set up the new tank's filter now -- the sooner the better, right? >:3

 

[OldMan47]

You just do a normal filter cleaning using the new tank of dechlorinated water as your cleaning bucket. It should not affect the filter any more than any normal cleaning would. It will make the new tank cloudy for a day or two but gravel vacs with regular water changes will gradually clear out any stuff that settles on the bottom or on things lie decor. Sooner set up means that you can start developing a robust bacterial colony sooner by using that new filter in a fishless cycle. The other option is to put the single female into the dirty water that you make with the filter cleaning and let her keep the new filter going with her wastes.

Java moss lives in my unlighted bare bottom tanks with only the bit of light it gets from nearby windows. Since my fish room is on the north side of the house, that is not much light really. It grows in that situation and prospers enough that I have java moss to share most of the time. By growing it in an unlit tank, I also don't need to worry much about algae taking over the tank so I win with less maintenance and the fish win with a robust clump of java moss. If you want a sample because you can't find it anywhere else let me know in a PM, it ships pretty well.

 

[Amberleaf]

I *MIGHT* have seen it in a store somewhere, but thanks anyway. I'm pretty sure that Big Al's had it last time, if not exactly Java Moss then SOME kind of moss similar to it~

Not exactly sure I *WANT* to put the female into the dirty water; I don't want to stress her too much.

Do you think if I drop fish food in the tank while the filter's cycling that will help?

Well, I'm going to go give the ENTIRE tank a good clean-out (take the thing downstairs and wash it well), as I think some stuff may have fallen into it while the female Betta wasn't in it.... Thanks. :3