Platy Fry Introduced To Community Tank

[fluvial]

Having had numerous Platy Fry gobbled up in the community tank while still small -
I invested in a 25 litre tank and managed to get the grand total of 9 fry born in it.

After 2 months of raising them with 3/4 feeds a day, and water change every other day, I
finally ended up with 5 sharing the tank with a colony of red cherry shrimp.

This morning I took the biggest and most bullying of the fry and placed him in the Community tank
a couple of hours before the lights were due to come on.
Honestly, I was like a parent introducing his kid on his first day at school.

Within seconds I could see my cockatoo cichlid checking him out to see if he was small enough to eat -
it was an anxious few minutes while he followed the youngster, who seemed completely oblivious to the danger,
around the tank.

Anyway, 7 hours later and the fry is still happily exploring his new home, the cichlid appears to have lost interest,
and I'm breathing again .... looks as though I timed the introduction just about right.

That leaves 4 platy fry in the small tank - I plan to introduce one a week into the main tank - picking the biggest each time.
Nobody told me it would be this STRESSFUL !!!

 

[PaBucsFan]

I know how you feel it took me nearly 2 months to get the courage to place my two biggest fry in the community tank and now they have become the leaders of it as both ended up becoming males. I was so stressed about putting them in thinking they would be harassed or eaten! I glad you had a similar outcome!

 

[OldMan47]

It is a fine line we tread when we decide to try introducing fry to a community tank. Sometimes things work out well, as was the case with your fish Fluvial. Sometimes we guess wrong and lose all of the fry we try it with. Unless we have experience with the particular community and fry, it is hard to say how things will work out.