# hiding fry in plants



## jaunypic

What are the best plants for livebearing fish to hide the fry in???


----------



## Ditzy

i keep reading java moss... but i dont really know


----------



## guppyart

java moss is awsome, najas (guppy grass) is another great one along with horn wort, sometimes duckweed and giant duckweed can work if you want it and have thick enough root system the fry hide right along in it at the surface, that only works for fry that stay near the surface.

those 4 can work miracles on saving the lives of fry


----------



## Ditzy

yay for me paying attention to what other people recommend and remembering it


----------



## emc7

Add frogbit, or Amazon frogbit. its like giant duckweed. And watersprite. Both are floating plants that stick out of the water, but have roots hanging down. Java moss is great for bottom-hugging fry and hornwort is great for fry that like the surface. naja and riccia are good, too.


----------



## jones57742

jaunypic said:


> What are the best plants for livebearing fish to hide the fry in???


Salvinia natans

TR


----------



## Toshogu

eh, be prepared for losses if it's a tank with adult fish and fry. Good way to observe hunting behavior in your fish. Best to keep fry in thier own tank if you want any to survive.


----------



## jones57742

Toshogu said:


> Good way to observe hunting behavior in your fish.


Ditto:

I keep adult male and female guppies in my main tank.

The fry hide in the Salvinia natans and the Angels enjoy hunting and eating the guppy fry (I enjoy watching the hunt also).




Toshogu said:


> Best to keep fry in their own tank if you want any to survive.


Tosh:

I have a minimal survival rate like maybe 2% to 5%.

TR


----------



## Guest

I had a big ball of javamoss in my malawi cichlid tank. I put some yellow lab fry in, and they would get caught in the java moss and die if I didnt see them.

I also had a fake rock structure that was hollow. my clown loach dug under it, and went up into it. When I took it out, he stuck to the side and all the water came out, and he died. Be careful


----------



## katfemme89

I'm too much of a pansy for hoping that my fry hide--I put the mothers in breeder nets, and when she's done having them I put her back in the main tank. I like to keep de wittle babies safe!

But other than that, java moss I reckon.

That fake breeder grass sucks, by the way (my tetras were very persistent).


----------



## Guest

I found the java moss a HUGE pain. They would hid in it, get it tangled around their tails, heads, in their gills, they would die, I wouldn't see them, they would rot, and I would end up having to throw out %90 of my moss


----------



## guppyart

lemons apparently you had very very stupid fish  considering that stuff is considered amazing by some of the greatest aquarists and breeders in the hobby .

I myself never had an issue with java moss and my fry, it saved countless lives.

and breeder nets are very bad for fish, they stress the mother, a heavily planted tank with the plants we have all mentioned would work as well if not better than a net, as sometimes fry don't always swim down and out of the net


----------



## emc7

Hey, don't bash the poor fish. Maybe he has killer fish-eating moss. There is no guarantee that all the "java moss" in the hobby is the same plant. You do need to thin the stuff so you don't get a dense ball that grabs all kinds of gunk.


----------



## Guest

yeah I didn't trim it at all, but I would thin it out be spreading it out whenever it got too dense. And I guess Yellow Labs are just stupid fish.


----------



## emc7

Lol, Malawi fish have virtually no plants in their natural habitat, they hide by mimicking rocks. Fish from planted areas handle moss better. For lab fry, gravel or pebbles, flattish rocks with space under them like slate, or Lok-rocks. The big fish see rocks, but the little fish go up under them.


----------



## jaunypic

no need to bash the grass!!!!! just askin a ? hahahaha


----------



## Guest

im not bashing it, i love it. Im just saying watch out. haha, my demasoni used to love eating, was so fun watching those little guys go at it.


----------



## jaunypic

*bashin garsin*

No just havin fun!! For real thanx for the help I'm looking into it.. You were alot of help!!;-)


----------



## Guest

Awe thanks man, I know, I'm great, aren't I? jk ha.


----------

