# How do I care for platy fry?



## MyCoolFishTank (Apr 9, 2012)

Okay,I have a platy in labor RIGHT NOW.
I also have 2 close to dropping platy.
Altogether 1 red wag platy,2 yellow Mickey mouse platys
That are preg.
I need to know what temp I should raise them,
I have to keep the fry in the breeder trap til Saturday and I'll get a net breeder
I have NO extra tanks.Cant afford one.
I need to know what to feed them.
I need to know how long I should separate them from big tank
(I'm only keeping 1)Giving some to friend)
Rest go to to petsmart
I need to know if they can live in a breeder til
I get my polisher thing a sponge,and a sponge for filter
How many will my platy have?
How long can they be kept in the breeder?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Keep the fry in the same temp as the parents. I think upper 70s is fine. Keeping the fry in a net works better than the mother, some platys get stressed and jump out or eat fry. Put her in for the shortest possible time and watch her. 

Platy fry are big enough to eat ground up flake food. Special baby foods and bbs are accepted but not essential.

They need clean water. They may do okay in a floating box or net in the tank until they won't fit in the mouths of the other fish in the tank, but you need to keep it clean. Siphon out poop and uneaten food, do whatever you need to make sure they have clean water every day. 

Platys can have no or stillborn fry to above 50. Young mothers will have fewer and many will have more each time.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Don't give them back to petsmart lol. They don't need any more. They're better off going to a friend or keeping them for yourself. Platy fry are easy to care for. Just keep them with the parents and make sure you have hiding spaces for them like rocks or fake plants (real plants would be better, like java moss). They'll find food one way or another but you can crush up flakes and give it to them.


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## BettaFriend (Oct 14, 2010)

Are all of your platys females? Was the father a platy, or are your platy fry platy-molly hybrids? Just curious.


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Don't complicate things. Livebearers generally won't breed with another species if their own species is available.

Mycool: A lot of your questions are best answered with experience. See what happens. Don't be in a rush to get rid of fry until you have had them in the tank for a month. You will have casualties. Some die for no apparent reason.

You will have problems with temperature. Platties like the water a bit cooler than mollies and guppies, so you may have some losses from that. (In AZ city I assume you have similar problems with summer water temps that I do--warm)

Be patient, enjoy the babies, and use your judgement. Don't freak out about them. they will eat flake, just make sure you provide small enough pieces for them. If your tank is planted, then just leave them in with the adults. You'll lose some but you were going to give some away anyway. Raising livebearers is pretty easy.


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## MyCoolFishTank (Apr 9, 2012)

I am going to raise them for about 2 months.
I never wanted to rid of them right away.
I want to raise them
I can only keep one with 16 other fish in 55 gal.
I have 2 male platys ( red wag and yellow Mickey mouse)
I do have one male black Molly
My platy didn't give birth yet either.


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## MyCoolFishTank (Apr 9, 2012)

I also don't have many plants,
ALL my fish peck at them anyways...
I'm going to get a net breeder this week.
I have five hungry tetras that NEVER stop eating
I have a male Molly who would chase other fish to get 
The fry.
My platy gave birth in the tank and my tetras ate them ALL.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You may need to think "outside the tank". Do you have any 2-20 gallon plastic bins? plastic shoe boxes? A barrel planter? Its warm now, you can keep fry outside in a planter with water-proof liner, you can keep them in a bin in a warm place like a bathroom. A sponge filter, an air-pump and daily water changes (you can move water from the big tank and then fill the big tank) will allow you to keep fish almost anywhere the temp is suitable (you can put a heater in a plastic bin, but you have to be very careful it doesn't touch the walls). You don't really need to bathe, do you? Bath tubs are great mini-ponds. 

There is no rule that you must save the fry. 

You could "loan" the fat mother to the friend who wants fry who can give her back after birth. 

Plastic mats of plants that are supposed to be buried in the substrate make decent fry hiding when floating upside down. But I don't doubt the barbs and tetra are fry-hungry hunters.


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