I am so dumb. Baby question.

DiannaB

Okay, I have two aquariums. One tank is I believe 30 gallons and runs along just fine. I have a Plecostomus that is several inches long, a catfish that hides most of the time and an assortment of community fish. I know the neon tetras, have no idea what the others are.

One type of fish is orange with black tipped tail fin, has black spots along the back, some are just orange. Recently one had babies, I have counted about a dozen of them. Now I have a silver molly that looks like it is about to literally explode. I went and bought a breeder thing for the tank to separate it from the rest of the fish. I have never had babies in my tank, have had the tank for about 5 years now. Was not trying to have babies either.

How do I take care of them. How can I figure out what they are? How long does it take for the fish to have babies.

Inga

Sounds like a Platy. Does it look kind of like this?


This fish was extremely pregnant here. They are normally more streamline and the males are much smaller then the females.

Nevermind the silly Guppy that is in this shot, he was in love with the Platy and kept bothering her.

redchigh

If you have hiding places, then the babies might be fine on their own. I can't catch fish in my tanks, and when they're tiny the net can injure them.

You need to post a pic.

Christople

Am i the only one who caught the Pleco in the tank. 30 gallons is a no no for a common pleco

DiannaB

Why is it a problem for the pleco?

I am pretty sure that the dozen or so babies I have running around are from the platy. I will go get batteries for my camera today and take a photo of tank. The one that looks like it is about to explode is a molly I think, silver.

alysalouise

Pleco get really big, over a foot long i have heard, so they need A LOT of room

MsNaFew

Hey, sorry to jump in, but "Oh no!" smacking forehead. Pleco shouldn't be in a 30 gal? Uh oh....

Eshnon

Btw, AWESOME picture of the prego platy haha. My platys are still just a few months old.. They still have a few more weeks to go till they are ready (I hope) to be having babies.. However.. The fry from platys are not hard to raise at all.. they usually hide amongst rocks and such till they are big enough to go out in the open and eat flakes. My moms fish had fry and she gave them to me after they were about 4-5 weeks old. Livebearing fish are easy, egg layers are not because of the parents trying to eat the eggs. Some fish, like the Gourami and Bolivian Ram will protect the eggs (instead of eating them like Angel Fish).
-Really, if you notice a platy is prego.. I'd just move her (carefully) to another tank.. Dont use a net, instead get a .5g and put it in the tank.. Then guide her slowly into it. If she has already had the fry in the tank.. Just provide many hiding places.

Christople

What kind of pleco is it.

DiannaB

The pleco is common. We have had him for about three years. He was the first fish in the tank actually. He has not grown any in the last year. We did put him in the smaller tank for a short time, it needed cleaning, but realized quickly he had very little room in that one so he is back in the big tank. The guy at Petsmart told us they will grow to the tank and then stop.

What should I do with him?