skaffen Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 One of my new Platies has just given birth!!! I'm a n00b so I have no idea what to do. Do I separate them from the general population? What do I feed them? Totally unexpected. Holy cow, how cool, tiny little fish Off to scour internet for instructions. I'm a dad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 :bounce: :bounce: Congrats. I'd catch the fry (not very easy to do) and get the fry and put them in a floating container. If you have a breed trap put the female in their or if you have another empty tank put the female in that. feed the fry crushed flake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzled Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Congrats!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Thanks for the instructions and congrat. I've managed to get three into a floating container. There's a few more, but they're hiding out in the Java Moss and I cant get to them. I'll keep trying, but they're on to me now. The Java Moss seems ideal for them to hang out in at this size. I didn't even know the female was pregnant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 yip java moss is great for them to hide in. Some of them should live if they manage to stay in their. They'll just eat any uneaten food that collects in the moss as well but catching them and having them in a container is better as they won't get eaten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandysme Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 just have heaps of plants floating on the top and all my fry swim up there, I dont worry about traps.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Yeah alot of people don't. I think if your going to use traps you have to know the pregnancy stages of platys so you can get them in there within 48 hours of them giving birth otherwise it's really stressful on them. Also certain coloured platys look different when they're ready to give birth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Oh well, I managed to find five so far, and have got em in a floating container so I might as well keep them there for a few weeks. I'll sneak up on them in the morning, before the lights are on, and see if I can spot any more. I'm trading my Bala in soon, I'll at least wait until he's gone before releasing them. Thanks again everyone, cigars are on me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Break off some java fern and pop that in the container. I'd even tease the moss in your tank out and make more of a hidey hole. I 've found platys tend to the bottom dwell at night. What else is in the tank in terms or predators will ultimately determine how they survive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I've growing some Riccia in a net (still haven't decided where to put it), so I put a decent sized clump of that in the container. They are already fighting a little, and eating crushed flake food. Bruce the Bala will be gone by the time I let them back into the community, but I'm worried my Tiger Barbs will find them hard to resist, so I'll let them get to a decent size first, although after seeing how hard they were to catch, they probably would have been fine in the community with the Java Moss to hide in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 their first few days takes them a while to eat flake but once they learn they're eating machines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Here's a pic of the little guys in their temporary home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 They look cute Skaffen I was so excited when my platies had their first babies, and took a million photos of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 They look cute! Congratulations! :bounce: :bounce: Just remember to change their water often - like at least twice a day, and put food in just as often. I use airline to siphon the muck out, changing about half to 3/4 water at a time. Use the tank water they came from to top up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Cool. what type of platys are the parents? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 looks like we have a new breeder on the block!- well done, tiger barbs will be fine with the fry, keep the carpet of moss for hiding and watch them breed again. Guppies to breed on the surface next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 They look cute Skaffen I was so excited when my platies had their first babies, and took a million photos of them Thanks - yeah, I'm doing the same I'm quite surprised at how charming they are! They look cute! Congratulations! :bounce: :bounce: Just remember to change their water often - like at least twice a day, and put food in just as often. I use airline to siphon the muck out, changing about half to 3/4 water at a time. Use the tank water they came from to top up. Cool, they're in a tupperware container floating in the community tank, so I just push the edge down and flood it a few times a day. I'll have to vacuum the bottom - it's mostly detritus that came with the Riccia, but there's a bit of flake food. I'll do the vacuum daily. Cool. what type of platys are the parents? Mum is a Red, looks like dad was a Wagtail - the fry all appear to have Wagtail colouring. Must be a dominant gene? looks like we have a new breeder on the block!- well done, tiger barbs will be fine with the fry, keep the carpet of moss for hiding and watch them breed again. Guppies to breed on the surface next? Thanks for the Barb info. I'm hoping my new female Bolivian Butterfly will be the next to go forth and multiply, but I'm picking it'll be the Platties again before her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 On the wagtails you can see a bit of black on their fins. In 4 more weeks and you'll have some more babies. How many did you get in this lot? I think the most I've got is 38 at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Congrats Oh, they are really cute too! So what other fishies are in the tank? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 It's my 440L community tank, so there's 9 tiger barbs, 9 black neon tetra, 2 siamese algae eaters, 1 golden gourami, 1 bala shark, 4 bolivian butterflies, 1 bristle-nosed plecco and 12 emerald eye rasboras Bruce the Bala is about to be donated to the LFS, I'll see how it looks after that, but I might get a couple more Golden Gourami. I'm going to trade the plecco for something more plant friendly, probably a couple of Ottos. You can see the Java Moss top left in this pic, that's where I found the Plattie fry - I found two more last night, for a grand total of ten. I wonder how many got eaten? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 That is so pretty Why are you giving Bruce away? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 He keeps trying to school with my Gourami, who's taken to hiding in the plants at the bottom of the tank. I don't want to get more Balas, so I'd rather find a home for him with a few of his own kind so he's happy, and get a couple more Gouramii so that fish is happy too - just trying to get a balanced, happy community tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaffen Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Well, they fry are growing nicely. I finally managed to corral the wily one who evaded me for a week. I didn't want it growing up a socially maladjusted loner Is it OK to keep them in the same tank as mum and dad? I presume they have no objections to shagging the family - will this lead to genetic problems in later generations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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