Best way to keep fry

RyanML

Small Fish
Aug 18, 2010
26
0
0
#1
hey.

i currently have quite a few fish in my tank, more than i probably should have but everyone is getting along and have no problems with them or water conditions, but every time my fish get pregnant i always miss it and come home to a thin fish with no fry in the tank, what would be the best way to preserve the fry? i noted the date when my platy had fry last time, so should i put her in a breeder net close to the 3 week mark? i would love it if i could keep a couple of fry that ive bred myself but i cant seem to get any lol.

any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

ryanoh

Large Fish
Mar 22, 2010
858
0
0
#2
My first fry was a total accident. One survived long enough by hiding somewhere in the tank to grow large enough not to be eaten. I went out and got a breeding net with a floating plastic plant in it and started to watch my platies more closely to look for signs they were about to give birth. I'm not very good at it because the most I've ever been able to keep alive at once it five, and that was because I left the mother in the net with the fry too long and she ate most of them. I've only had one live to be fully grown because with the five the ned came loose from the side and the small fish got out, or the big fish got in. Either way, none of them made it. I do, however, have to fry currently in my net that I just noticed swimming around the tank one day, and I should be able to keep them.

To keep fry you either need to be able to spot the mother giving birth and scoop her into some sort of protected area (net, box, or separate tank) when she starts having babies, or have a lot of plants, either real or fake, around the tank so that the babies will have places to hide. I hear java moss works very well, but I haven't ever had it in my tank when fry showed up. Floating plants work pretty well too since I think the fry and an instinct to swim up. I have Water Sprite in my net now just so the fry can have somewhere to hide. They sell plastic fry plants as well, and they kind of look like scrub brushes to me, but they should have them at a fish store or a Petco or something.

Other than being eaten by other fish, I haven't had trouble keeping them alive. I know some people feed them special fry food, and I've even heard something about egg yolks, but I just grind up flake food into powder and drop it in the net.
 

Sep 19, 2010
2
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0
#3
I am trying this box that floats on the water, with a V shaped piece of plastic underneath the female, the V has a very thin gap at the bottom, just big enough for the fry to fall through into the safety of the other segment of the box. Hope it works!
 

Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#4
Breeders boxes aren't as effective as other methods. Smaller fish can easily swim out of the box and into the tank, where they are eaten by the other fish. I used a breeders box and then eventually a cycled 5 gallon tank when I had molly fry. Molly fry are larger and didn't swim out of the box, but when I had platy fry, the fry swam out of the vents in the box and were eaten by the mother and the other fish.
Purchase a 15-20 gallon bare-bottom tank. Add a lot of java moss and/or hornwort to the tank. Place the female in the tank and after she gives birth, remove her. Wait a day for her to completely have all of the fry. They won't release all the fry at once.
It is not a good idea for you to keep the fry if your tank is already overstocked. Platies can have upwards of 50-100 fry at once. You will need to find a place to rehome the fry or you will need a larger tank. How many and what type of fish are in your tank now? What size is your tank? Is it cycled? Do you have a liquid test kit? What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If your tank is overstocked, it's likely that your water parameters are very high. Even slightly high nitrates can kill the baby fish, even if the other inhabitants of the tank don't eat them first.
You need to crush up fish food or use Hikari First bites for the babies. I also fed my platy babies egg yolk, but only feed a drip or two and remove all the extra when they are done eating because the yolk can foul the water.