# Platy fry not eating after move



## Bindel2303 (Sep 9, 2007)

Ok so about 2 months ago my sunset platy gave birth to 8 fry. They all seem to be doing well and are still alive. Some however are much larger than the others. I have some that defiantly look like fish and are 3/4 of an inch then I have a few smaller ones, down to a 1/4 of an inch. for one, what do you think is causing this difference? Anyways I had a sick molly and needed to quarantine it so after some water changes and a bunch of moving around I put the molly in the tank the fry were in and I put the small fry in a hatchery in the main tank, and the lager fry I just put in with their mother. They seem to be doing ok. They mostly stay near the bottom or rest behind the filter current and their mother doesn't pay them any attention (they are big enough not to get eaten). Anyways the problem is they don't seem to be eating. I crush up flak food and put it in there but even when they swim by it they don't even look at it let alone eat it. And its not that their mother is eating it all because there is plenty in the tank. They just seem disinterested. Any one have any suggestions?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

the stronger fry give off a pheronome that can stunt the growthof the other fry.
if you remove the bigger fry to a different tank you will find some of the smaller ones now start to grow. However some will always be smaller unless you keep removing the larger fry.
it can be quite a circular thing. Even adult fish give off the same growth stunting hormone to keep the fry small.
I find that my platy fry prefer to poke around the bottom of the tank for food-- there are microscopic organisms and algae in the bottom of the tank that they eat. They have to learn to eat food flakes. Guppies on the other hand seem to come to the surface at a younger age and learn to eat flake sooner. However guppies tend to mature faster than platies, mollies or swords in my experience.


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