Platy fry!

[Aquagurl]

I only have 5 baby platies! That's all I could save, since I don't have a breeding net. But fortunally I got one today. My fish just stare at the babies and try to get them, but (hahahaha) they can't! I need some help on how to raise the fry and will they be ok in the breeding net?
Another question: if one of my platy females become pregnant again can I place her with 5 little babies or will she eat them?
Thanx in advance!!!!

 

[snowyangel]

Hey there Aquagurl! I don't own platties, but since they have alot of the same qualities as guppies I will give you some info Great to hear you got a breeder trap to seperate the fry but this alone they can't grow up in. Try finding even a 1 gallon bowl(walmart $8) to put them in instead, this way you can control their feedings, give them more space to grow in, and control the temperature better( 76-79F). My fry get fed 3-4x a day with powdered or finely crushed foods(flakes, frozen bloodworms, tubifex worms) b/c they're mouths are very small.
Don't put your mom in with the babies until the babies have reached about 2month old(or are big enough not to fit in other fishes mouths) or you'll find you gave mom an extra snack Another thing fry like is live java moss. Fry love to hide in it and eat off it. I keep moss in all my fry tanks
Good luck with the lucky 5!

 

[Stryker]

You can also get "liquid fry", fry food. Works for my guppy (I think) and its for all live baring fish fry (so the bottle says).

 

[AquaSeaFoam]

If you kept them in the breeding net make sure to lift it up so new water gets inside it b/c the circulation isn't that great in those things. If you already have live plants, but a little bit in the breeder there are micro organisms they can feed on. I have used liquifry before but it took them a while to get used to finding it even in a small breeder net... crushed flakes will work fine too. Just be sure not to spoil the water with too much food.
Like snowy said, the mother will eat the other babies.
In the future you could get lots of java moss and put in the main tank. All the babies might not survive, but some will. Heck, if all of them survived though you'd have platies coming out of your ears

 

[EX-AmP]

depending on the cost of 10 gals in your area i would get one of those. here they sell bowls for about 6-8 dollars but 10 gals are 10.