# How do you deal with the birth of your fry?



## kristinannie (Mar 10, 2013)

I was putting the mothers in a breeding trap, but I am starting to really feel as if it is inhumane and stressful on the mothers (I just had one die in there and a couple have died soon after birth). I now have dividers in my 55-gallon tank. I have an area for the fry, an area for the very pregnant, and a normal area. It is all heavily planted and has floating plants. A couple of platties and guppies have delivered in the mother area and I was able to save several of the fry and move them over to the baby area. Of course, I only saved a portion of the fry, but most of them have survived in the baby area.

What is the best way to deal with this? Do you use breeding traps with success or should I just continue this way?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i never use breeding trap or nets...all i do is put an abundance of hornwort to float so the fry will have cover....


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

When I had live bearers, all I did was keep plenty of hiding places in the tank-- plants, piles of stones, plants, large gravel (the tiny ones can actually hide out in large gravel) and more plants. The fry instinctively hid. Enough survived that my tank was over crowded in a few months. Then I took out much of the hiding places, but still, some fry would survive each birthing. Are you raising fry to sell? If so, separate tanks are in order. If not, even a 55gal tank will crowd quickly if all the fry survive.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

I have always successfully used breeding traps. I don't put the mother in however and just get the fry from the community tank, whichever ones are strong, smart, and fast enough to survive til I get them. Makes for a better batch and no problems for the mamma. I also give them special mixtures of varieties of food and make sure the too later of the breeding net is refreshed with new water. However now I just started leaving the fry in the community tank and a good portion survive. They hide in all the plants and decor. I think that yours would be fine if its heavily planted.


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