Update On My Platy Fry

[Lizzie71]

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I posted that one of my platys had unexpectedly given birth (unexpected because I have all girls!). They were living in my community tank, and as I didn't expect the little ones, I didn't have them in a breeding trap or anything. Also, I did a water change and gravel vac after they were born, but before I knew they were there (IYKWIM) which wasn't a smart move.

I haven't fed them anything special except crushed flake food (I crush it for my small rasboras anyway), and I couldn't catch them to separate them from the rest.

Just thought you might like to know that 2 weeks on I still have 6 surviving fry (might be more but I've definitely seen 6 at once). They used to hide under the driftwood and in the plants, but now they are much bolder and swimming around with the other fish, especially at feeding time. They are too big to get eaten now (the platys are the largest fish in my tank) so they look like they might make it to adulthood

It's also interesting to see that they are not all the same colour. Mum is silver with an orange tail, and of course I have no idea who the dad is, but a couple of the fry are definitely turning orange.

It's really fascinating watching them grow up. Just a shame that I have to take them to the lfs in a couple more weeks, I just don't have room for more adult platys (and I think mum might be baking another batch ).

 

[divisible by zero]

i had similar experience, but i know who the daddy is. I 'found' 1 fry one day and since have been watching a lot closer. It may be frowned upon but i do nothing special to separate the pregnant females. my 2nd batch produced 2 fry that i've since not seen, but last week and the week before i evidently had more born. The other day i was looking at 2 from 'batch 2' when i noticed 3 even smaller onces. I have larger gravel so there are lots of places for them to hang out in. They are very cool to watch as they cautiously come out when i drop crushed flakes in for them. Its probably about time to remove the males though.