My Platy had babies......help!

[Dianne]

Just this past Friday, my daughter (5 yrs old) wanted a new fish for her tank. So, we went to the pet store and found a Mickey Mouse fish! How cute!

Well, Sunday night I discovered a fry swimming quickly away from the mouth of our Gold Gourami (Lucy....yes we name our fish!). Since Lucy tends to be aggressive, I took him/her out. We actually gave Lucy back to the pet store. Lucy was always picking on and biting Nemo (Dwarf Blue Gourami). I knew with Lucy in the tank that the fry had zero chance in surviving. Plus, now that Nemo has realized that Lucy is gone, he/she has been very happy!

Anyway, back to my question on our new additions. What do I need to do with the fry? Any special food? It is really exciting to see babies! My daughter is very excited too! We never expected this!! We had to change Nick's name to Nicki now that we KNOW the sex of this fish!!

Thanks for any help you can give! The fry were first discovered Sunday (9/18) evening. Our Mickey Mouse fish was bought on the 23rd.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Congratulations, they are cute aren't they?

If your tank is planted and mature they should be able to feed off algae and tiny critters in the water, if not you can buy powdered baby food. I haven't bothered with fry food for my last batch, since the previous batch were born when we were on holiday and clearly found food in the tank. Platy fry grow quickly and they will soon be competing with the other fish for flake food. Just crush the flakes for them at first. In fact, I saw a 2 day old fry have a go at a flake in my tank this evening. Last week I watched my 2-month-old fry demolish half a boiled pea very efficiently.

A few plants to hide in will certainly increase their chance of survival as even their own mother is quite likely to chomp down on them if given the chance.

It also helps if you are careful with water quality, frequent small water changes.

Be warned though, this is only the beginning. Female platys can store sperm from one mating for up to 7 batches of fry. I took my male out 3 months ago, and the female has had 3 batches since, so I have 2 month old, 1 month old and newborn fry all in the same tank. Gorgeous- but I'm going to need more tank space.

 

[Dianne]

Congratulations, they are cute aren't they?

If your tank is planted and mature they should be able to feed off algae and tiny critters in the water, if not you can buy powdered baby food. I haven't bothered with fry food for my last batch, since the previous batch were born when we were on holiday and clearly found food in the tank. Platy fry grow quickly and they will soon be competing with the other fish for flake food. Just crush the flakes for them at first. In fact, I saw a 2 day old fry have a go at a flake in my tank this evening. Last week I watched my 2-month-old fry demolish half a boiled pea very efficiently.

A few plants to hide in will certainly increase their chance of survival as even their own mother is quite likely to chomp down on them if given the chance.

It also helps if you are careful with water quality, frequent small water changes.

Be warned though, this is only the beginning. Female platys can store sperm from one mating for up to 7 batches of fry. I took my male out 3 months ago, and the female has had 3 batches since, so I have 2 month old, 1 month old and newborn fry all in the same tank. Gorgeous- but I'm going to need more tank space.

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Thanks so much for the information!

My Mom is worried that the fry will be sucked up into the filter. She mentioned something about a sponge to place over the stick (sorry, don't know exactly what it is called) that sucks in the water. Should I be worried? I personally don't think the suction is that strong. But I can always be wrong!!

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Finely crushed flake will be fine for the fry although you can get several different types of fry food if you'd prefer, they will grow quicker if you also feed them a little crushed live foods too, like bloodworm.

Your Dwarf Gourami will try to eat the fry, as will mother Platy. Make sure the tank has plenty of cover and hiding places, lots of plants including floating plants also rocks - slate is good as the fry can hide underneath it.

As for the intake on your pump they should be able to swim away from it, although you may lose some of the weakest ones.

Good luck.

 

[Dianne]

I think Nemo (dwarf blue gourami) ate all our fry. I can't find them any where. Last night I noticed he was swimming in the corner where the fry were hiding out. He usually is never in that corner. I'll have to invest in a net a keep a close eye out if our Mickey Mouse Fish (Nicki) gives birth again.

 

[Annastasia]

Yeah, most Gouramis won't hesitate to eat fry. It's best to seperate the fry into a breeding net, or better yet, a seperate tank for a while so they can grow up a little. But I guess you'll know for next time!

Sorry to hear about the babies though.