Platy fry for .05 sec.

[Rebgen]

Being a first time parent is rough! I've been keeping an eye on the lone sunburst platy in my son's 12 gal. tank since we brought her home the first week of Jan. I suspected she might be pregnant so I bought an inverted breeding tank from PetsMart. I've been expecting her to deliver her fry for the past couple of weeks and have been watching closely.

We'll today is the day. This morning I saw her hovering behid a rock and I saw a little orange object dart up and away with her in hot pursuit. I lost track of it in the plants so who knows what happened. I decided to put the mother in the breeding trap to harvest as many fry as possible.

Tap, tap, tap....nothing for a few hours. I get concerned about stressing her out too much so I decide to let her go. An hour later I'm watching her hover again and another fry....BAM...my ADF got an early lunch. A few minutes later she hovers and another fry....BAM...mom ate her baby before I could even say "get the net!"

Once again I put her back in the breeding trap now that I know she's definitely dropping fry. It's been a couple of hours and she isn't about to give me the satisfaction of letting me see her drop any fry....arrrrrgh!

What's the deal? Do Platies give birth sporatically like this? I'm trying to save some fry and I'm 0 for 3 so far. Who knows how many I missed. I thought the plants would provide some initial protection but the fry have been literally eaten within half a second...no chance at all to make it to cover.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Harlock]

Are you actually seeing the fry come out of her or are you seeing her hovering, seeing a fry dart and assuming its being born? Fry dart around so quickly and if viewed with another fish above, it can seem like she is actually having them right then, but it could have happened hours ago. Just one thought. Also, breeding nets generally stress mother fishes out. You hear and read tales of mothers that have aborted whole broods of fry after being netted. The plants should provide cover. You may search your gravel and plants very carefully to see if any are cowering in there.

You said she was in the breeder for several hours without a drop, so it makes me think she has had them already and you are seeing her hover over them trying to home in on a meal rather than giving birth and snatching them up almost siultaneously. If you have a Hospital tank, you could always move her in there. I mean, eventually she has to get full, right?

 

[Rebgen]

<<I mean, eventually she has to get full, right?>>

My sentiments exactly! LOL!

I actually saw her pop one out so I'm fairly sure about what's happening. If she doesn't get on with it in a couple more hours then I'm going to release her for good and let nature take its course. For a beginning tank I have a decent amount of plants growing for cover, so I like your ideas concerning cover.

When I re-read my initial post it sounded a little goofy. All this waiting around stuff got me all fired up when I finally spotted my first fry...LOL.

I'll update later on if I have any developments to report.

P.S. I'm going to set-up a hospital tank per your suggestion but I haven't had the time to get everything together yet. It'll definitely come in handy in the future.

Thanks!

 

[Rebgen]

Here's the latest:

I decided to put the Silver Molly (male) in the breeding trap since it was really harrassing the female. It was shadowing her, waiting for more fry to pop out and have lunch again. That worked for a while and she dropped a few more, but she just ate them too.

So, with my schizophrenia in on mode, I put the mother back in the breeding trap and decided to leave her there while I ran some errands. I just got back home and a discovered 20 fry at the bottom of the trap....whoooohoooo! I let the mother back out into the tank and took the inverted plastic piece out. I put a strand of anacharis in for cover and I'm getting ready to crush up some flakes in a baggie for some food.

It'll be interesting to see how many eventually make it. I'm fairly sure that a few are in hiding somewhere in the tank but I can't find them. Hopefully my molly and platy won't either. I just wish I had that hospital tank set-up right now....it'd be a handy thing to have.

Any comments on generally how long it takes for these type of fry to mature enough to release. I've read the part about being bigger that the largest fish's mouth, but I was curious if anyone had a time estimate.

I learned a lot today and had some fun along the way. Once my 55 gal. is cycled and I put together a hospital tank I'll have a little more flexibility.

 

[Harlock]

Woo hoo, indeed! Congrats. No idea on how fast platies grow. Just did a little poking around the internet and have heard they can go in a main tank as soon as three weeks if you feed them well. Most times I hear 3 tmies a day, one site said four times a day, an one site actually said every hour just enough for them to nibble quickly and be done. I'd go with 3 or 4 times a day as I simply have a life other than my fish... you know, my own kids come first and all. Hope that helps, good luck and best wishes to the mommy! She may enjoy a little time in the breeder by the way. Oftentimes the males are ready to get the female right back into the family way but she could use a little bit of a break.

 

[galaga-girl]

This is an interesting thread because I too am waiting for my platy to give birth to her fry! I can't wait!!!

 

[Blinky]

Yay, congrats! I'd keep the fry in the breeder net for as short a time as possible, just until they're 1/3" or so. Fry are surprisingly fast, and if there is enough cover in the tank even very small (~1-2 weeks old) fish can evade capture - I've got platys in my tank that breed like crazy, I'm overrun with fry. My angel used to eat them all - that's his job - but the tank is so heavily planted and he's become so laid back that loads of them survive. Once they're a week or two old they're too fast for anyone to catch, and they swim around in the open.
I'd add some bushy plants (real or plastic, the fish don't care ) or java moss and release the fry around 1-2 weeks old depending on their size. They'll grow up healthier if they've got lots of swimming room, and there are microorganisms and algae on the surfaces of plants and decorations that provide a constant source of food.

 

[Rebgen]

Thanks again for all of the feedback folks. I just did the toothpick in crushed food routine for the first time. Hardly looks like any food at all but I'm sure they'll find it. The anacharis stem I put in the trap should offer some supplemental food too. Several of them are just lined up in a row along the plant taking it easy. I'll aim for three times/day and see how they do. I'm crushing TetraMin flakes into powder so they should be able to eat it.

Blinky, thanks for the info on when to let them head out into "general population." I'll try your suggestions and see how it goes. They sure have a terrible batting average for the first day though. I get the feeling none of them would have survived without the breeding trap. If I get the other tank set up and cycled by next week, I might try to release them there for a while.

P.S. Good luck Gala girl with your expectant platy. It's a lot of fun when they decide to drop their brood. Check in and let us know when the big day comes.