Newly Discovered Fry...

[Fintastic!]

Whilst doing my weekly water change and gravel vac this evening, I noticed to my surprise a little fry fleeing from my Malayan Aqua Fern. I'm surprised as I have my Molly and Platys some months now and I'm sure it wasn't a Cory. It looked a tad like my Molly. Orange and white. I read they store sperm for some months, is this right? All Platys and Molly are female, their anal fins are fanlike rather than spikey it that makes sense. I'm trying not to get too excited as previous fry was seen as dinner...

 

[Neomeris]

Why don't you catch it and put it in a separate tank?

 

[Fintastic!]

I only have the one tank at the mo Neomeris.

 

[HayzH]

I only have the one tank at the mo Neomeris.

get a breeding trap/net...

 

[Squigs]

I only have the one tank at the mo Neomeris.

I'm new to all this, but I think your fry will become food if you don't remove it... if you only have one tank, could you get a breeder box from the LFS? They just float at the top of your tank so will keep the fry safe. They look like this:

http/www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=breeder+box&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1920&bih=850&tbm=isch&tbnid=o15NHVGP9Y9LQM:&imgrefurl=http/www.tarkusaqualife.com/index.asp%3Fw%3Dpages%26r%3D10%26pid%3D23&docid=D7-qCaX_x4nGwM&w=606&h=399&ei=6diFTqLEO8WV8QPAl-Fb&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=566&page=1&tbnh=134&tbnw=204&start=0&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0&tx=78&ty=54

Good luck!

 

[tyler88]

If you want to keep it you should separate it quick i've had mollies before and they ate all the fry in my tank before i could save any. They might get lucky and survive though if they have a good place to hide in the tank.

 

[Fintastic!]

Thanks guys! The breeder box is a good idea. I check that out today. I'll have a job catching it I think as it's hard to find.

 

[phishyphil]

If you have fry now, you will constantly be inundated with them. Livebearers like your mollies and platies will breed endlessly. The livebearer's can "hold there fry" for long periods of time, you may see the other males bumping into the pregnant female or following her closely so when she does drop the fry, they have an easy meal, cruel but its the way they work.

Breeder boxers can work, but for mollies and platies, half the time they slip through the tiny slots, a fine breeder net would be better, if you intend to out your mummy fish in there, please no longer than 24hours to avoid stress, personally I leave my fry in the tank, and let nature take its toll, survival of the fittest, the strong will survive, as long as you have places to hide, plants, caves, rocks, java moss etc then you should be fine.

 

[catfish4ever]

If you have fry now, you will constantly be inundated with them. Livebearers like your mollies and platies will breed endlessly. The livebearer's can "hold there fry" for long periods of time, you may see the other males bumping into the pregnant female or following her closely so when she does drop the fry, they have an easy meal, cruel but its the way they work.

Breeder boxers can work, but for mollies and platies, half the time they slip through the tiny slots, a fine breeder net would be better, if you intend to out your mummy fish in there, please no longer than 24hours to avoid stress, personally I leave my fry in the tank, and let nature take its toll, survival of the fittest, the strong will survive, as long as you have places to hide, plants, caves, rocks, java moss etc then you should be fine.

"survival of the fittest"

 

[Fintastic!]

I see your point PhishyPhil. I'll leave it be. My Molly and Platys are all female. This little guy hides in the plants.

 

[phishyphil]

If you have fry now, you will constantly be inundated with them. Livebearers like your mollies and platies will breed endlessly. The livebearer's can "hold there fry" for long periods of time, you may see the other males bumping into the pregnant female or following her closely so when she does drop the fry, they have an easy meal, cruel but its the way they work.

Breeder boxers can work, but for mollies and platies, half the time they slip through the tiny slots, a fine breeder net would be better, if you intend to out your mummy fish in there, please no longer than 24hours to avoid stress, personally I leave my fry in the tank, and let nature take its toll, survival of the fittest, the strong will survive, as long as you have places to hide, plants, caves, rocks, java moss etc then you should be fine.

"survival of the fittest"

I see your point PhishyPhil. I'll leave it be. My Molly and Platys are all female. This little guy hides in the plants.

 

[fishyfeet]

uncontrolled numbers of fry can cause your tank no end of problems, i started off with two guppies, the female gave birth every month and in a couple of months i had 70 adult guppies in a 5 gal tank, what a nightmare, water changes daily, just think livebearer fry unless they are special type you wont even be able to get rid of them. di