i had 2 batch of platy fry about 6 days ago. about 35 of them all together..

right now they are kept in the breeding trap and i feed bbs and egg yolk everyday. they are still growing very slowly...cant wait on they day i released them back to the main tank.

i know its is normal to lose a few frys or two....

but i have 6 frys death in 6 days,.....is this normal???

i noticed some of them not eating as much of the others would and they started to float of top of the water edge and them gradually loses stamina and dies...

They would be better off out of the breeding trap and into a proper tank - even the main one if it is well planted with plenty of hiding places.

i feed them newly hatched brine shrimp, for example, these 30 fry are going to consume more and in less time if placed on the breeding trap. Finding bbs in the large tank is much more difficult for the fry, since the food particles as well as the fry are present in much less density.

It is more time consuming and often yield sub-optimum results. With this approach, you are likely to end up increasing your maintenance requirements in the form of siphoning waste, cleaning filters and replacing water. 1,000 newly born fry in 5-gallon may be the optimum fry density for feeding purposes. How feasible these rearing densities are in practice, and what sort of systems are better suited are the real questions.

8)

the bigger tha space the faster they grow, at least that is what I have found, I started with my guppy fry in a small cube tank, but moved them to a 3 foot and they grew twice if not 3 times the speed they were in a small cube tank.

The cube tank they were in was also much bigger than a breeding trap.

The traps shuih are just to catch them till they are free swimming and then you move them to a new tank, with more space for them to grow.

B

thanks for your input Ballistic...cheers!!

but feeding them will be hard wont it?

feeding will be no problem, as with fry most people put them in a bare tank, as it is easier to clean.

so with not having any gravel in the tank the uneaten food will fall to the bottom of the tank and be eaten at a later stage.

B

and that is where snails come in handy.

They eat the left over food and pack it into small handy packets.

Alan 104

This belongs in the livebearer forum!

traps are good for one thing and one thing only! and that is aquiring the fry from the mother at birth! NO fry should be keep in there as there living quarters! mainly becuase stunting of growth will occure! i only keep my fry in those traps for a day! so that i dont put any dead fry into a tank for them to mature!

as for my tank set up, i put my fry straight into either a 100l or 60l tank for them to mature, fully setup will gravel, fluval, heater etc etc, and heavly planted! i havnt had any problems so far, and they babies grow extremly fast!

Shae 250

It does not necessarily belong in the livebearer forum as he was asking a breeding question.

I don't keep fry in the traps either. In fact I never use them at all except to separate an injured fish to stop it being attacked.

thank you all for your input!!! i will move the fry to a separate tank today...

cheers