Threadfin Rainbowfish With Guppy And Platy Fry Safe?

[Iheartfish]

I have two tanks set up, one is a peaceful community tank and the other tank is for my guppy, platy and Molly fry and 5 cherry shrimp. I want to move my threadfin rainbowfish into the fry and rcs tank as they have been doing the showing off their fins thing to eachother and think they may spawn, and if they do I think they'll have more of a chance in surviving in there. They only thing I'm concerned about is whether the threadfin rainbowfish will eat the fry in that tank. I think it's unlikely, but I would prefer to find out if someone else has already successfully done so. I look forward to your replies

 

[Carlovel1]

Depends on how big the fry is...

 

[myrtle]

I think they would be fine. An adult Threadfin's mouth and throat should be too small for platy fry though I've never had paty fry to know for certain. With my Threadfins I have to crush the flake up really tiny for them to manage it and I can't imagine platy fry being smaller than that.
Good luck with the breeding, from what I've researched getting the eggs is the easy bit. Raising fry whose mouth is too tiny for almost all fry food is the challenge! Apparently green water is the answer for the first couple of days.

 

[Iheartfish]

I think they would be fine. An adult Threadfin's mouth and throat should be too small for platy fry though I've never had paty fry to know for certain. With my Threadfins I have to crush the flake up really tiny for them to manage it and I can't imagine platy fry being smaller than that.
Good luck with the breeding, from what I've researched getting the eggs is the easy bit. Raising fry whose mouth is too tiny for almost all fry food is the challenge! Apparently green water is the answer for the first couple of days.

Thanks for that, very helpful! As for green water, what do you mean by that? Algae? How about newly hatched baby brine shrimp? Or fish flake dust? (finely ground flake) eek!

 

[myrtle]

I am only going on what i've read but newly hatched Brine shrimp would be ok from about 2-3 weeks old, same with fine ground flake. Squeezings from your filter sponge may work as could moss that has been in the tank for some time and is colonised by micro-organisms. As a rainbowfish's diet consists mainly of plant material then water that has gone green, ie colonised by tiny algal blooms, would feed them. I read somewhere about boiling lettuce leaves but i'm not sure about that. There are some good articles on "aquarticles.com" and there are also several forums and websites dedicated to rainbowfish which have very good info.

 

[Iheartfish]

I am only going on what i've read but newly hatched Brine shrimp would be ok from about 2-3 weeks old, same with fine ground flake. Squeezings from your filter sponge may work as could moss that has been in the tank for some time and is colonised by micro-organisms. As a rainbowfish's diet consists mainly of plant material then water that has gone green, ie colonised by tiny algal blooms, would feed them. I read somewhere about boiling lettuce leaves but i'm not sure about that. There are some good articles on "aquarticles.com" and there are also several forums and websites dedicated to rainbowfish which have very good info.

I have now moved the threadfin rainbowfish to the baby tank now, and just watched them feed. I feed my fry on flake dust, and it seems to be the only thing they can fit in their mouths too. Poor things, I hadn't been crushing the flakes for the other tank, just assumed as they're adult fish they would eat that. There is absolutely no way they could eat the fry lol! I have a moss ball in the tank which I've had for months, plus some java and Xmas moss that I recently purchased, so hopefully they can find something to eat in there. I hope they do breed, although I have 3 males and one female. I really ought to get more females. Hopefully for now she's feeling up to the challenge lol! Thanks for your help, much appreciated!

 

[drobbyb]

To feed rainbow fry for the first week or so you might try vinegar eels. That's what I use until they can eat baby brine shrimp.

Feeding rainbow fry with vinegar eels

 

[Iheartfish]

To feed rainbow fry for the first week or so you might try vinegar eels. That's what I use until they can eat baby brine shrimp.

Feeding rainbow fry with vinegar eels

Vinegar eels hey? I have apple cider, will they already be in there or do I have to put yeast in? Bit confusing. Can they be seen with the naked eye? Thanks

 

[drobbyb]

You have to get a starter culture. They can be seen with the naked eye, but they are still very tiny and easy to miss unless you have lots of them.