# update on platy fry



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

fish gave birth last November to 32 fry-- at least that is what I caught in the tank. they were very varied in color indicating to me that the father must have been a red wag while she was a tuxedo. A number of the fry died in the first month. They were all dark orange with black speckles.
They grew not too badly until this month when there has been a 1/3 die off. Most of them were orange with the black speckles. They seemed to be doing well and eating well and the next thing you know they are lying on the bottom of the tank unable to swim. I am wondering if they have a swim bladder problem??
Several are pale pink and they are the biggest at about 1/2 inch long.
Not big enough to go into the 30 gallon yet as miss rainbow would swallow them whole.
I do water changes twice a week 1/3-1/2 and feed them omega flake food with the occasional shrimp pellet crushed up.
For the longest time they were all growing at the same rate but now several are at least twice as large as the others.
Any way to keep the smaller ones growing too? Up the water changes?
I do not have any more tanks to put them in.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

When you get a few which are outgrowing the rest in a big way, it's usually because the big ones are getting all the food. Separate them from the small ones somehow and make water changes, and the small ones should start to catch up in size.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Down to 16 fry!
Same type are dying- the dark orange with the black speckles.
I feed 4 times a day and they all seem to come to eat except the ones that can't get off the bottom!
Am thinking too that if they can't compete they likely aren't that healthy anyway.
and this is a natural way to cull them.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Have 5 little fish in floating breeder container. Water changed out for fresher daily.
A couple of them can't get off the bottom of the container now. 

There is an upward tilt in their back and tail. That must signify some sort of problem in their health but I do not know what.
Take this symbol ) and place it so that it is like a smiley and that is a bit like the curve they have.
Something neurological??


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Ouch. Bad birth defect, or possibly an infection got to them during a critical stage of early development. Either way, bad news. They won't recover.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

several more in the main tank have not been able to swim now for a couple of days. the ones in the lttle breeder have not grown appreciably despite the extra attention and several of them can not swim now. Besides the funny little bens in the back they seem to have odd shapes to the dorsal fin-- perhaps a bit more of an angle than I would expect with a normal platy fry. At any rate they look a bit odd.
The ones that have grown from the same batch are also a bit on the thin side. despite eating 4 times a day. It could be because the filter flow is fairly brisk for the size of the tank and they are working hard to swim or they could be males. Too soon to tell. I am really disappointed in this batch of fry- heck have been disappointed over the past several years with fry. Have had no success in raising any compared to years ago when they were so prolific that I had to beg people to take the maturing fry off my hands. Had the same problem with guppy fry- had so many that I had to give them to the fish stores. 
Wonder what has changed. Certainly not my routines or food I feed> the only thing that has changed is my local water supply and the sources that the lfs gets its stock from. ( Asia now compared to Florida)


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Sorry to hear that. You can switch to bottled drinking water, but I don't know what to do about your fish stores' sources.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Well i guess that is just the way it goes. Even the manger at the lfs chain won't buy the guppies they carry. Says they are a joke! Not very encouraging is it. 

Most of my friends that keep fish average 4 months lifespan with anything they buy. Ocaasionally some thing will survive longer.

Ie i have a 4 some of red eye tetras that are at least 4 years old and my rainbow is upwards of 8. Pleco and upside down cat fish are over 4 years with me and were with someone else for a few years. Ottos were 3 when the last one disappeared. 
Guess some fish are stronger than others.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

either that of your water is flat out toxic.


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