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Platy Fry Help

10K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Noko 
#1 ·
Okay, so one of my sunburst platies gave birth to two little fry. I am unsure how old they are, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting her to give birth yet. I have many questions, but I will only ask the ones I think are needed to keep these two fry alive!

First question, what should I feed the fry? I took some of my flake food and grounded it into a powder. I offered some to the fry, but they won't eat any.

Second question, my female is still big, is this normal? I read somewhere that it takes time for her to get back to her normal size, but in 4-6 weeks she will have another batch of fry.

Third question, I have the two fry in my 1.5 gallon tank that I used for a betta before I moved him to a 10 gallon tank where he later died (R.I.P Alpha and Freckles (divided tank)). When will they be big enough to put back into the 20 gallon tank with other platies? I am thinking about seperating the males from the females so this doesn't happen again.

Last question, is there any hints you can give me on caring for these fry? I know all about betta fry and how to care for them (even though I don't breed bettas), but little on caring for platy fry.

I am so lost when it comes to fry. I try my best though, and I research until I am just reading the same thing over and over. I haven't found any good websites on caring for platies in general though, let alone fry.
 
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#2 ·
livebearer fish fry are the easyest fry to care for out of every thing.....first feeding the fry on crushed flakes is fine.....the fry might just eat the food when your not looking......the more veriaty in food you feed them, the faster they will grow my guppy fry are about-------- and there a month old.........about the female (adult) she may still have more fry in her but holding them until she feels safe to give birth....my guppy female never looses the "fattness" after she gives birth but shes fine......hope this helps :):):)
 
#3 ·
Thank you! The two fry I have are slowly swimming around together. They seem to enjoy having a 'big' (compared to them it's huge) tank to themselves. They like to hide behind some of the plastic plants I have in the tank with them. I came home from school and saw this adorable little thing hiding and I quickly started getting all my supplies together. My dad later found another one that was smaller.

So far, they look healthy and happy :D
 
#4 ·
1. I never really see my newborn fry eat... but somehow they survive so I think they go pick out the food later when I'm not looking. When they get bigger you should see them eat.

2. My platies rarely change size much when they give birth so many yours just is fat but she possibly could have some more babies in her if you just found the fry she might still be giving birth but I doubt that. Also since you only found two then maybe those were from the last time she had babies?

3. In a 1.5 gallon tank it might take months. Platy fry grow depending on tank size (the larger the faster), food (baby brine shrimp = faster than flake food), water quality (changing 50% a day will promote maximum growth and that should be easy on a 1.5 gallon tank... also if you don't have a filter you might want to consider a live plant or two in there to absorb the ammonia the babies/food produce.)

4. Growth rate of almost any fry depends on the factors I said above. Goes for bettas and platies. But ummmm even if you separate the males and females the females will have stored sperm and give birth to several batches before they finally stop having babies.

Not sure what other advice to give, goodluck with your new babies! :)
 
#5 ·
I have only had her for a month or two. She has never given birth before (in my tank), so I know she gave birth sometime last week.
I am planning on putting them in a bigger tank, but for now, I only have a 1.5 gallon tank.
I know that the girls will give birth to more batches of fry even after the males have been removed. I do have a large 55 gallon tank, and my 20 gallon tank isn't full yet, so I can handle a few more small batches of fry.
My goal right now is to keep these two fry alive. If needed, my betta sorority can be kicked out of the 10 gallon tank for awhile, I think they need a break anyways. They keep picking on a poor inocent girl.
 
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