Disappearing frys but haven't seen any bodies yet!!!

[yh88]

My count of frys that were hatched in batches by the mother-of-all red sword-tail seem to be going down, though I have yet to see any dead bodies except for a silver dollar which died 2 days ago

Of the latest batch of red sword-tail frys only 1 maybe 2 survived out of the 4. The others were larger 3-5mm. I feed the fish 3 times a day and yet they seem to disappear. These are the fish in my tank.

2 Silver dollars, of which 1 died about 6-7 cm long

2 head and tail lights, one 2.5 cm, female - used to be the assassin, one < 2 cm and rather timid often bullied by the other one. :oops:

3 neon tetras

1 degenerate (with bent spine) platy - gave the others away - they breed like mad like the sword-tails

1 common catfish 4 cm - algae eater

1 Cherry barb

The rest are all red swordtails

Mother-of-all - 4 cm

First batch survivor - 2.5cm

2 second batch survivors 2cm

3 third batch survivors <2cm

40 or so fourth batch disappearing fast

2 fifth batch survivors 3-4mm

I wonder where some of the smaller fourth batch fish have gone. THe mother of all seem to know its own kind when they reach a certain size. The head-and-tail fish used to relish the newly born frys and again it seems to know they are fish when they reach a certain size or know it's too big to put in its mouth. The silver dollars get pecked at quite often by the bigger red sword-tails.

Which one's are the likely Assassins? :hail

Sorry.. Link had to be removed

Far too long.. Disrupting page width.

Mod.

Bill.

[Tsarmina]

sounds like they're being eaten.

my adult female guppies were seen eating the 3 of the fry they had from the first lot. (i quickly moved the females after that)

i'm wondering, would a swordtail do the same??

i mean, if they are small enough to fit in ones mouth...???

[HummingBird]

Swordtails definately eat their own fry, so that's probably what's happening.

[LYNDYLOO]

I have to agree with Eric, I was breeding Swords at one stage and if you dont seperate them, yes Mum and Dad with eat their Bubba's. :evil: :evil:

Do you have another small tank you can place the fry in? or Mum and Dad?

Lynda

[Tanksman]

And if the swords don't eat them well theres the spaz platty who'll hav a sniff and the barbs and catfish(although catfish small still so unlikely). It's tough work for a fry in a community it would seem.

[peanuts]

other option to removing parents or fry is to have heaps and heaps of places to hide, ie caves and lots of plant cover

[Caryl]

They are all being eaten. You need a heavily planted tank for any great number to survive.

[Pegasus]

Hi there YH88.. Great to have you join us

Could you please edit your profile

This will allow many un-needed questions when replying or seeking help.

Many thanks,

Moderator.

[Faran]

Live food. If you're serious about saving your fry you need to grab them and put them in a "grow-out" tank until they're big enough to not fit in anyones mouth. As for likely assassin - All of them

Good luck with your breeding. Oh, the platy and swordtails can/will interbreed. They'e just cousins without a tail. You don't want this happening and should remove even the last platy.