I Got My First Fry!

[keenonfish]

Hi folks well I am quite surprised - Noticed a small alien dart across the tank this morning and thought what the heck is that! Turns out it is a fry of about 3.5 - 4.5 mm long. I am quite chuffed really I have such a small tank, basically 30 litres containing about 26 litres of water and only one rather pathetic plant not to mention the problems I had with my fish in this tank previously - (before I was 'educated' by this forum!)

Anyway, I have got 2 red wags and two Neons which could be the only culprits but have never been sure of their sex so maybe someone can help me here and try to determine what the little fella is..?

Male?

Female?

Female top & male bottom?

Now just a couple of questions should I give it a nursery net or something for protection or as he has got this big just leave him? I saw him next a platy at one point and it was ignored but this was just after a feeding.. Also will he have any special dietary requirements (feeding flakes some crunched to small size).

Help appreciated!

Olly.

PS I will try to get a pic but it is a quick little thing!

 

[shelaghfishface]

they are both female ( platys) have you got another one in there with a pointy anal fin? tho they could have just been pregnant anyways as they can store sperm for a few months ( 6 i think)
you can put it in a net in the same tank, if you leave it in the tank it will surley get eaten, then you can feed it on very very finely crushed flakes,or get some liquifry no2

have no idea about the neons, im not sure how you sex those, but they are egglayers im sure
all the same congratulations, new babies are always exciting, look out incse there are any more hiding in there
shelagh xxxx

 

[Schmill]

Incidently how big do fry need to get before you let them back into the main tank? I have some fry at the moment in one of those floating birthing / fry traps, and they've been there a few weeks.
Is there an answer to this, or is it just up to the keeper? I generally think that they can come out once they are bigger than bite size (into a peaceful community setup), but as the fish in the tank get larger, the length of time the fry have to spend 'isolated' increases

 

[shelaghfishface]

just till they cant fit in any of the other fishes mouths is fine if the tank is well planted you could risk sooner,but i wouldnt ( platy parents are known for eating the fry, hence why the mum needs to be seperated from them as soon after she is done giving birth )

 

[flash22]

IMHO it will be one of the female platies 7/10 times female livebearers will be pregnant when you buy them

livebearers make rabbits look tame. I got 3 female platies and 1 male from elsewhere 4-5 weeks later there all pregnant

 

[JenCliBee]

depends if u want the fry 2 survive just leaving them be will be like natural selection if it's ment 2 survive it will



jen

 

[Kizz]

i've had my tiny fry in the breeding net for nearly 2 weeks now it is getting bigger but it's still small enough to get eaten by bigger fish (Like my gourami) so my fry will stay in the trap until it's big enough not to be food ! lol

Have you veer had males platy's in the tank ? the male will have a small pointed fin on the underside this is actually it's genitals thats how you sex the platy's the females will have a wide underside fin

Won't be from your neons as these are egg layers and i have no idea on how to sex them i've also heard it's incredibly hard to breed these in tanks

 

[keenonfish]

ok thanks for replies off to get a fry nursery now I can see him sitting under some decor so am definitely going to give him a fighting chance! I must have had these fish a couple of months now so I like the sperm storage theory!

RE Neons I always thought the males have straight stripe and females curved / kinked.

Any tips for catching the fry?

 

[Kizz]

just be nice and slow my bf caught mine cause i didn't want it to swim out into the open n get eaten

Try and bring the net up from under the fry just go nice and slow no jerky movements or you'll prob scare it and send it into the mouth of another fish lol

Good luck And Congrats on the fry

 

[Schmill]

lol My advice is totally opposite that of Kizz. I tried the go slow method and it just didn't work for me, instead I have to carefully put the net into the tank slowly, get it to roughly the right position, sneaking up on the fry, and then a very quick sweep with the net and flick of the wrist to catch them - lol
I guess it depends on the net, the person, and the fry, whatever works for you to be honest

 

[keenonfish]

Just went to pets at home and got a net - I currently have four fry now I've got a few issues everything in my aquarium is setup wrong for fry I have large stones which they like to wriggle down into the murky depths of my UGF.
I have caught a few by very carefully uncovering them with a pencil (point comes in handy) with one hand and net with the other then when they are free I guide them into net. Great until they disappear round a side which doesn't take long with a hex tank
Also the fry net is taking up a silly amount of space so I think I am going to have to look into getting a bigger tank sooner than I expected

 

[shelaghfishface]

woops talk about being caught un prepared
they wont be in there long, but have a look on ebay or gumtree to see if anything local to u ending soonyou dont need anything fancy just a tank and sponge filter where are you ? maybe someone can help you out here??

 

[vinylman]

Two nets always works for me. Try to get one white (to scare them in the opposite direction) and one black (to catch them with). Never fails.

 

[keenonfish]

Thought I would update...

Total fry = 6 last but not least pictured below. It was a job and a half coaxing them out but I persevered in the end!

As I removed gravel for this fella I forgot to turn off air pump so suction got more intense until he suddenly got sucked down out of sight came back couple of ours later and relived to find he had found his way back up

They did like the tank edges whcih made things a bit easier... I do wonder if a gravel vac at the weekend will reveal any more though?

Anyway, the tank really is cramped at the moment ...

Not sure what to do really I have got a small 5 liter tank so I might transfer them their I assuming with them being so small a nitrifying culture isn't really important yet?

What I am thinking - put them in the small tank with a little heater. In the mean time get a s/h rio 125 set it up and if possible put the new rio filter in my hex tank to culture up a bit (from the UGF) then after four weeks transfer platies & neons from hex to the rio and fry from 5 litre to hex maybe keep corry in hex until I get him some company but also to keep levels ok how does this sound? (thinking corrie may leave fry alone but also load the filter a bit?)
Will fry be ok in unfiltered tank for a month assuming regular water changes (I will divert some air into there from the hex tank)??