Update: First Platy Fry

[LilMuppet]

A week since they were first spotted I thought it was time for a bit of an update.

The biggest is now about 12mm whereas the smallest is still 9-10mm, but there is a reason behind this! Those that read previous replies will know I originally had 4 in the breeding net, as one disappeared when trying to catch them, then it appeared along with another; making it six! On Thursday, we spotted two more little platy fry after a water change, but they were in thick plants so there was no way I could catch them - believe me I tried! We saw one of the bigger fish with something in it's mouth later and where they had been hiding had been thinned out by a fish, so we thought they'd been eaten.

This morning, there was a fry between the breeders net and the tank front, small enough for only the platys to get between. The fry is a brilliant orange colour unlike any of the others, so we had to try and catch it! After an hour we've now got 7 in the breeder net. Guess the other one was the one being chewed on.

One platy looks like it is heavily pregnant again, so if she has them within the next week we'll put those in there too. Otherwise there is too much of a gap to let them in there and they'll unfortunately have to fend for themselves!

It's my first experience actually helping raise fry, the Cherry barb babies just appeared after 2 weeks and needed no help. So exciting I think.

 

[lilfishie]

aw congrats on the fry, enjoy watching them grow

 

[LilMuppet]

Thanks.

I just spotted the other fry at the bottom of the tank, so they must be hiding somewhere no fish can get them when they sense danger, but there is no chance of getting the last one until he comes to the surface, which I've never seen him do - not even mid tank level which is strange for platy. Turned the lights off now, so hopefully he will venture out.

 

[lilfishie]

try getting some floating plants for him to hide in, that way he'll be easier for you to catch but not the other fish

 

[LilMuppet]

I'll have a look for them next time I'm at my lfs!

This evening as I was feeding them all, I caught a glimpse of the last remaining uncaught fry and decided that I was going to catch him even from between the weeds. I had to let the net sit in the water for a good five minutes before he'd go close to it and I got him! It was a nightmare transferring him into the breeder net because he wouldn't swim out of the net.

He was resting on the bottom of the breeder for 5 minutes but now looks fine.

So out of my 8 fry:

3 fry about 11-14mm long, with large block spots.
4 fry about 10-12mm long, almost clear / pale yellow with black line across where the tail meets the body
1 fry 10mm long, a warm orange / red colour.

They've grown so much you can see them on my camera phone.

4 without spots:

1 with:

 

[kewskills]

they look so small and sweet

 

[K.J.]

Aw! How old are they? What are you keeping them in? They look darling.

 

[LilMuppet]

They are just over a week old now and in my net breeder in my 160L community tank.

They've got a good appetite on them and so growing very quickly now.

 

[lilfishie]

glad you caught the other one, i never have problems catching mine they seem to swim straight into the net

 

[K.J.]

Wow, a week old and 12mm? My three day olds are only about 6-7.

 

[LilMuppet]

Well they were 8-9 days old when the picture was taken, but I think the platy was a long time in letting them drop and I feed them several times a day! Their 'father' is now called Merlin as he's quite a charactor (a randy little thing chasing 4 females around!), not sure on names for the little ones.

Bit OT but I recounted are 5-6 week old Cherry Barb babies and there is actually nine, not eight. Just one is much smaller than the others!

We can't afford to house anymore, so I hope Merlin doesn't have his wicked way for a few more weeks.

 

[LilMuppet]

They are now two weeks old and have grown a lot. I've cut back feeding them from three times a day to two and when they hit a month old I'll crack it down to once. Almost every evening I take out some of the surface water as I don't want any rotting food to build up inside the breeder and it seems to be working nicely.
The tank is due another partial water change this week so that should be fun.


I took a pic for reference of their size, I know there is little quality apart from seeing the colour is brighter, but you can clearly see they have grown a lot. What a difference a week makes.

We still have the original eight and no others have showed up, but one of our platys look heavily pregnant, so hopefully she'll pop just as it is time to release these fry into the main tank!

3 are still heavily spotted with black, the one which is a slightly different colour (brighter) has some small black spots now, but the other 4 remain the same apart from showing a deeper colour, but I feel sorry for one of them as they're trying to catch up in size. At the rate they are growing at I'm hoping to release them in 2 weeks time. Meaning they've been in the breeder between 3-4 weeks (some longer than others after the difficulty catching the last few).