Move baby or leave it?

C

carolw1224

AC Members
Sep 18, 2006
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San Jose, Ca
I need some advice. I found a single platy fry while doing a WC yesterday afternoon. I have a 29gal tank with four adult platys, six zebra danios and this one little bit of a fish. I can't believe it didn't get eaten upon arrival. Here's my quandry. He (she?) seems to be just fine. Has a favorite plant to hide in, sneaks out at feeding time and nibbles on flake food. Ventures out when no one is around and hides when the other fish are close. But, we've(kids and I) become attached. I didn't want babies (I know, I know, shouldn't have gotten platys if I didn't want babies), but now that it's here... well, we're attached. My daughter named it Nemo, and she's 17, for pete's sake. So I'm wondering if I should try to move it to a small grow out tank or if it's odds are pretty good just staying put. I've read some other posts on fry and it seems as though some people do just leave them with the community and they make it fine. I don't have another tank, but I could get one. I'm also not sure how I'd go about setting up a grow out tank and make the move safely. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks!

Carol
 
if your attatched to it move it to a cycled tank. if not it may disappear one day..
 
Without knowing the size of your tank, you have a few options.. either place it in a net breeder, something like...
10934_small1.jpg

or failing that.. i have found small pond plant baskets float, which may do better as the water will easily flow and any wast will drop to the bottom of the tank.
but if you feel that it's coping well on its own and the other fish aren't bothered about it, it may be best to leave be.

Hope this helps
:dog:
 
If you want to ensure that it lives I would move it to a 5 or 10 gallon tank of it's own until it is a little bigger. Always handy to have another tank around in case of infections, new fish, etc.
 
If you can I would move the little guy. Put him in a grow out tank with a few decorations so he feels secure, a heater and a filter. Also make sure that the new tank has a lid. Carpet surfing is just a real bummer! When you set up the new tank you can take some established media from the tank that he is in to kickstart the other tank. If you use enough of it, you probably will not even see a cycle. I have set up new tanks this way for years and there was little if any cycle to speak of. After everything is set up and the water is O.K with the temp and levels and such you can move him. You will have to keep a close eye on him and his water conditions because with him being so small and you wanting him to grow he should be fed a few times during the day.

Good luck with him and let us know how it goes with him.

Marinemom
 
I too ended up with a single fry

I put it in a breeder tank for about a month, but it didn't grow much, and some of the other fish acted like they were trying to get in! So, using some of the water and decorations from the original tank, I cycled and then put the fry in a 2.5 gallon, and it was so much happier! It's grown quite a bit since then- about 2 months. I also fed it the First Bites fry food, but now have it on regular flake food, and that seems quite successful. Hope this helps!
 
Without moving it, yes, Nemo may vanish into thin air. It will be safer once it's bigger than the mouth of your biggest fish. Even so, my bigger fry would chase the my itty bitty platy fry around and nip at them eventhough they won't fit in their mouths. Either the net breeder trap or a 5-10g would do.
 
Thanks Everyone!

I think I will get a 5-10 gallon and try to get him out of there. I was looking at purchasing a small hospital tank and a small nursery tank eventually anyway. Nemo just made me decide a little earlier. Hmmm. Two extra tanks just to maintain one. No wonder so many people have five or six tanks, eh? MTS, here I come.

Now, hopefully I can catch the cagey little thing when the time comes!

Carol
 
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