# Mickey Mouse Platy Fry



## Rider14 (Aug 1, 2009)

*Platy Fry Help*

Tank has 3 Platys, one sunburst and 2 subburst mickey mouse, and I believe 2 are female and one micky mouse is a male (or 3 females that were "fertilized" before I got them, but I think not, as I've had them for a couple months). Sunburst is bigger than the similarly colored mickey mouses, and also looks like she is about to explode...

A mickey mouse also got huge, and apparently at least one of them gave birth (I think the mickey mouse). The female Mickey Mouse was hanging on the bottom of the tank a bit, under a plant, hopefully because it was giving birth, and not because it was sick.

ANYWAY - here's what prompted the following questions:

I noticed ONE small, bright orange baby fish in the tank this morning. I don't think its a BABY BABY fry, as it is maybe 1/4" long already. Tank has a live plant, very bushy and curling at the top, and providing lots of places to hide, along with fake plants, grasses and rocks, etc. (tall 38 gallon tank).

Since this baby is already this big, I imagine it was born a while ago and is one of one or two survivors? Does this sound right?

Any way to tell for certain- meaning, would it look different if just born last night?

Mom fish still kind of hnging on the bottom and/or is hiding out of sight, but came out to eat this morning...I overfed the tank today and added a lot of extra finely crushed flake for the little guy and any others I may have missed....told my daughter to do the same thing again today, altho they normally only get fed 2x a day...

Is this little guy more than a day or two old? Yes, it's small, but BRIGHT orange and clearly visible when not hiding in the plants. 

SHould I assume the others were cannabalized by mom or is it possible a few more will pop up? (plant is heavy, and there is also a tall hollow rock that serves as a cave, although rarely do the fish swim in or out of there...)

Last question is will the fact that there is some residual Ick Clear in the tank have any impact on the Platies and their fry (or the birthing of more from the other, huge, sunburst platy?)

As tank mates, along with a few others (see sig) we have 8 neon and 3 cardinal tetras, and after feeding some blood worms on Monday, the 3 cardinals (and ONLY the three cardinals) developed some small white sugar like crystals on their fins and body (ick, from what I can tell), which I promptly treated with two doses of Ick Clear (over 2 days, with water change in betweem) which seemed to mostly clear up the problem (one still has a dot or two).

I'm not into breeding nets and what not - not looking to breed fish, but I'd like one or two to survive in the community which I'll keep.

Anyway, thanks again for all of your help. Crazy fun hobby I'm getting into here...

- Dan


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

you may have some fry hiding in your big plant.. although with that list of tank mates i would say they have a small chance of survival.. at least until they get too big to be eaten... if you want your next batch to grow i'd say add some more plants.. platy fry go instictly to the top for a few days and try to hide anywhere they can, i have a java moss plant that never seems to stop growing in my platy tank and it's ideal for the fry.. i usually dont see them for a few days after there born b/c they hide

for ur medication question.. i'd say do a small water change.. just to clear it up a bit.. but as long as you have your carbon cartridge in the filter the medication should be dulled out and not work anymore.... so your fry should be safe from the chemicals


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## Rider14 (Aug 1, 2009)

alliecat420 said:


> you may have some fry hiding in your big plant.. although with that list of tank mates i would say they have a small chance of survival.. at least until they get too big to be eaten... if you want your next batch to grow i'd say add some more plants.. platy fry go instictly to the top for a few days and try to hide anywhere they can, i have a java moss plant that never seems to stop growing in my platy tank and it's ideal for the fry.. i usually dont see them for a few days after there born b/c they hide
> 
> for ur medication question.. i'd say do a small water change.. just to clear it up a bit.. but as long as you have your carbon cartridge in the filter the medication should be dulled out and not work anymore.... so your fry should be safe from the chemicals


Thanks - I had the filter out, just pulled some tank water to rinse it out and put in a new one.

Baby is actually still around and doing ok - never ventures far from a good hiding spot, when it actually shows itself. Night feedings, it comes out. Didn't see it at all this morning despite looking - I just assumed he was a goner.

How big does it need to be before I can stop worrying about it getting eaten?

He's a half inch long with tail, but still 2/3rd the size of the smallest neon.

And how long should I keep overfeeding the tank to make sure the little guy eats?

Hope he makes it - one new fish per batch would be perfect.

Oh, and only platys have bright orange fry, right?

Thanks

- Dan


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## Rider14 (Aug 1, 2009)

little guy still alive, clearly a platy. When can I stop worrying if he'll get eaten? He's getting gutsier and not always sticking to the plants...

-dan


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2009)

as long as he doesnt fit into the mouth of anther fish he'll be fine.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

you know.... Why are they called mickey mouse platy's??? They are bright red/orange and black. Why not call them connect four platy's or Queen of hearts... I don't get the connection.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

called "mickey mouse" because of the single black spot at the caudual peduncle and the 2 black spots on the caudual in which it resembles the head of mickey mouse..


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## Rider14 (Aug 1, 2009)

I think this guy will make it. Only survivor of 2 batches of fry.

There was a smaller, clear one and a smaller orange one from a second batch that followed him around for a while, but I haven't seen them in a few days.

- Dan


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Cool to hear you got at least one successful fry. To be honest, its a wonder that fish lived for that long considering your tankmates. If you want the fry to live in the future, get a 10 gallon tank with lots of plants that have good hiding places and a sponge filter. Put the pregnant platy in the tank when she is about to give birth to her fry. Take the mother out when she is done. You will hopefully get some more successful spawns that way.


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## Rider14 (Aug 1, 2009)

I'm not looking for more fish, but I welcome a sole survivor - survival of the fittest and all that. Couldn't be all luck, I mean, Platies can have like 40 fry, and I had 2 batches, so I'm kind of impressed. One extra fish per batch is plenty.

- Dan


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