Sam Livingston

My mickey mouse platy started going into labor around midnight; I got to see her give birth several times throughout the night. It was both fascinating and at the risk of sounding immature a little bit funny too. They would start coming out slow and then about half way out she shot them out like a cannon. Multiple times she dropped 2 at once. I had a tank divider to keep them isolated from other platies but the babies started sneaking through the divider into the other side. I saved all that I could (not sure if any got eaten or not; but they have incredible survival instincts as newborns. I got scared they might get eaten so went out at 2:30 AM and bought a 5 gallon hexagon tank. I then started the process of catching the fry to put them in new tank. I thought there were 20-30 fry in there, boy was I wrong!!! I kept track of ones I caught and transfered them all at same time to new tank, a total of 68!!! Thats only counting the lives ones I could find and catch. There were a few dead ones and a few I found but couldn't catch and eventually lost, and I'm assuming there was a good amount I just couldn't find yet. So I'm guessing the mother must have dropped 80-90 fry. Amazingly she is doing great and seems very happy to be out of isolation and with the other fish. The 68 fry are absolutely adorable, all have orange heads and see through bodies. Should I expect a bulk of them to die this coming week? Their so small and fragile I can't imagine a lot surviving.

COBettaCouple

the fry look fragile, but i believe an average survival rate for them is about 60%. The mother was definitely healthy as was the father, so i'd say the babies have a good chance. they all start out transparent but will color up in time. just keep them fed and the water good and you may end up needing a much bigger tank for them with how many will survive. if you can use Prime on the water and 'seed' the new tank from an established tank, maybe you can get it cycled faster. congrats on so many fry.. our daisy had babies from store inbreeding and didn't have that many total.

Sam Livingston

Yeah I was shocked to say the least, and still amazed the mother recovered so well and so fast. The new tank; has 5 plants from the last one, and half the water in the tank came from the last tank; so they wouldn't have a water shock. I also dropped a PH tablet in their to ensure the level will be in between 6.8-7.2. What is water "Prime" thats new to me.

Sam Livingston

I have been reluctant to put the filter on the fry's tank thus far. I'm going to use netting from my big fish net, but are they strong enough to pull away from the sucking off the filter? I caught the fry by using water current against them, as to were too weak to resist it. So I'm worried they will just stick to the filter like dead fish.

Sam Livingston

Sorry I'm full of questions still, how fast will they grow? If 60% of 68 fry survive; that leaves around 40; what kind of time table am I looking at for them to need more space than a 5 gallon tank?

COBettaCouple

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+112994 - prime removes the heavy metals and locks up toxins in the water.

the best thing we've found with pH is to let it be. they'll adjust to your pH, but the tablets create fluctuations that can be hard on them.

Sam Livingston

If they were born in tank that uses the tablets, then switched to one that used them would it be best to keep using them, or let it be for now on?

Sam Livingston

scratch that last question, was answered already on here