Proud New Platy Mom!

[Sarah93108]

I have a 12 gal communtiy tank (including a filter and heater) with 2 females and 1 male platy. Yesterday our beautiful silver/blue platy had about 12 babies. Maybe more but those were the ones I rescued before getting eaten. I moved them to a breeding net within the tank and placed some fake plants on top. So far I've fed them ground up flake food and a few seem to be interested. But mostly the food is still floating in the water. This morning I found 4 dead and I'm not sure why. The others seem to be doing okay so maybe this is normal. I'm obviously new at this! It's been so exciting and I just want to give these little fry the best chance. Here are my questions:

Do I really need to feed them 6 times a day?

Do I need to switch up the food and give them something else? Suggestions?

How long can they stay in the breeding net?

The female still has a gravid spot, is she expecting more?

Should I remove the fish that have died?

The male won't leave the new mom alone! Should I relocate him or her?

THANKS A BUNCH!
Sarah

 

[donna123]

congrats on the fry ,
glad you let mom give birth in the main tank and then rescued the fry
i feed mine 4-5 times with ground up flake, when bigger try brine shrimp aswell,
i keep mine in the net for about 4 weeks depending on how many i have the less the longer they stay,
yes the female will always look gravid, she has the next batch ready for birth again in 4 weeks, ( she may have a few more from this batch in the main tank in the next few days, but 12+ sounds about right this time.
yes remove the dead,
the male will be excited because of the hormones shes given off after the fry were born,
if you can relocate him so mum can rest that would be great.
skim off any uneaten food from the net every day.
all the best Donna

 

[theotheragentm]

1. The first few days they might not eat. That's normal. Six times a day, no. It's hard to feed them that often, because you have a life of your own. They will grow up just fine with feeding three times a day even, but I try to sneak in small more frequent feedings when I am home.

2. I stick with just plain flakes, but if you can feed baby brine shrimp, it has a high fat content for the fry and they will grow faster. It's not as easy to do though as flakes from a container obviously.

3. If you have eight of them, they might get overcrowded. I would see if you can get a spare tank going for them. Keep them separate until they're large enough not to get eaten by anything in the tank. Overestimate because it's always sad to see one get eaten when you're not expecting it.

4. She may give birth to more within the week, but not always.

5. Yes! Remove the dead fish! Always remove dead things from the tank. They rot and produce ammonia.

6. The male is trying to mate again. It's normal, but if she is the only female, you should have a couple more females there to take teh attention away from her.

 

[Sarah93108]

Thanks for the great advice you guys! I've been out all day and was so happy to come home to the new additions in our family. I just got most of the old flake food out of the breeding net. Retrieving the little ones that didn't make it was by far my least favorite part of this hobby so far. I hope I don't have to deal with that again.

Sarah

 

[theotheragentm]

I would feed the fish slowly and see what they eat. Then you can find out how much they'll eat versus what falls to the floor of the breeding. In my experience, leftover food that sinks can be sucked through the breeding net by adult fish, so if you're not dumping huge amounts of food, things should be okay. Your fry will very quickly tackle larger flakes and it's fun to see them take them on diligently.

 

[Sarah93108]

I'd like to do a partial water change in our tank. When I do this I usually use Aqua Safe, Easy Ballance and Cycle. Will doing so hurt the fry in any way? I don't want to put products in the main tank if it will affect them in the breeding net. But that water is looking like it's in serious need of a change!

Thanks,
Sarah

 

[fishboy619]

first of all, well done on your new fry,
you dont really need to feed them 6 times a day,usally only 4-5 will do.other alternatives for fry food are tetra liqufry or baby brine shrimp.what i do is place my fry in the breed net with the brine shrimp and as the fry grow they can eat the brine shrimp.i also feed them fresh brine shrimp aswell.
they can stay in the net for about a month or so, depending on how many more die, hopefully no more.not sure about the gravid spot, my mother platies usally have it after for a few day since giving birth and takes a while for it to lose weight too.
ALWAYS remove dead fish, no matter what,apart from shrimps that can feed of they, a dead fish has no use,like donna123 said, its normal for the male to bother the female,i usally place the male in a seperate breeder net next to the fry for a few days, letting him calm down a bit and giving the mom a rest.
good luck with your new fry,BTW what are you intending to do with the adults, keep or sell?

 

[Sarah93108]

BTW what are you intending to do with the adults, keep or sell?

Funny you should ask! I'm trying to decide what we're going to do with them. I'd like to keep the adults we have since I'm now attatched. And the fry that survive (so far 8 that I can count... they're fast little guys). Since this is the first time it's been really special. I think there's another pregnant mom and I can't imagine having a dozen more to care for. I'm seeing that our very active male might pose a problem. I don't want to part with him but may have to think of something so we don't overstock the tank. I'm not to keen on the idea of letting the adults eat the babies. What do people usually do? We need platy birth control! Ha ha

Sarah

 

[theotheragentm]

Unfortunately, male Platy + femal Platy = fry. The only true way to control their numbers and to keep happy fish is to have all females or let the fry get eaten. The idea usually sounds horrible to people at first, but after each batch of fry, it sounds like a better idea. You can give away fry to a LFS. Some may even give you some store credit. It won't be much since these things are so easy to breed. I give them away to the LFS if they survive being eaten.

 

[Sarah93108]

I just noticed another fry that didn't make it and will remove it from the tank. Could this be due to water quality? I am good about keeping the levels safe and water clean. It seems to be getting dirty quicker because of the new fry. Can I use the same products (Aqua Safe, Easy Ballance and Cycle) without hurting the new fish?

Sarah

 

[theotheragentm]

Can you give us the stats on your water? What are you using to test your water? Test strips are highly notorious for being inaccurate?

Have you tested your tapwater? Sometimes there are nitrates in the water or there are high pH levels. Water changes may be adding things to your water. If you know your tapwater is good, err on the side of extra water changes, making sure to decholorinate and to match tank water temperature when replacing water as not to shock your fish.

 

[Sarah93108]

Can you give us the stats on your water? What are you using to test your water?

Hi,

I'm using Mardel Live NH3 (levels are normal) and Wardley Mid Range PH Indicator (also within the normal level). I did a 50% water change last night and added a teaspoon of Tetra Easy Balance. I do use tap water but let it sit out for at least a week before putting it in our tank. The adults and fry seem to be doing better so I'm thinking that it was just time for new water. Also I removed the male for a day and that calmed the females down. He's been bullying the new mom (chasing her away from him and the other female and niping at her fins). I'm glad she's getting a rest from him but I feel bad because he's miserable. The only other tank I had was a very small betta bowl with no heater or filter. I'm thinking about putting him back in because he seems really stressed. What do you think?

Thank you!
Sarah