momo9700

Okay, so I'm trying to make something to catch the platy fry in my main tank. Something that ONLY the fry can get into(I don't want to catch any other fish in there) but that they can't get out of. I can make things they can get into, but they can get out of them just as well.

TFA101

well, the breeder boxes can be of assistance, some have slots at the bottoms and a lower level where the fry will fall seconds after birth and become concealed by a special design on the box. From there, you can transfer the fry to a seperate tank, or use a temporary tank divider.

momo9700

could i simply put that in the tank for them to hide in? all three of my females are atleast 3 weeks pregnant each so my tank is gunna be full of those little suckers.

or as i said, is there any way i can make something similar to those?

TFA101

you could add floating plants to give the fry adequate cover

momo9700

well i have those. but i need something that can "trap" the fry so i can move them to my 10g.

Chief_waterchanger

In my opinion, the best way to do that would be:

Wash bottle with warm water.

Use a 2 liter drink bottle, cut above label (about 2/3rds the way up the bottle). Remove label from bottle, and turn the nozzle end around so that the last 1/3rd of the bottle (where you drink from) is now inside the larger part of the bottle. Affix smaller 1/3rd into larger 2/3rds by rubber-band. Drill a hole into cap JUST barely big enough for fry to get through, but make sure the adults can not fit. Put VERY LITTLE food (preferably sinking pellet/wafer of some sort rather than flake) in bottom of bottle and put bottle into tank. Remove the bottle daily, clean thoroughly with warm water and paper towel (DO NOT use soap/detergents on any product that will contact your tank or your skin before skin touches tank!), then replace food and bottle into tank.

The fry can still get out of the bottle if they want to, but if you put a few snipets of guppy grass/java moss (something with lots of hiding area such as those two previously mentioned) into the food end of bottle it would attract the fry to stay.

momo9700

okay. thanks! but how does the rubberband keep the top 3rd onto it?


EDIT: can i use a water bottle?

momo9700

Any other ideas?

Coryd55

I would say CWC has a great idea.

If you try that let us now how it works out for you.

macroman

A Turkey bastor works a treat, just suck up the fry and
deposit them in the grow on tank.

Shaina

This might sound odd but

I've left a big clump of java moss floating free...the fry naturally swam into it (virtually all of them) because it's the only really good cover in the tank.

I then removed the entire java moss clump by netting it, bringing it near the surface, then lifting it out with a bowl so the fry would stay submerged.

Not elegant, but it seems to work fairly well. Obviously putting the female in one of those breeder boxes is the most efficient method...they make them so they can hold multiple females as well (with dividers). The above is just what I did if I missed a pregnancy.

There's a reason I don't do livebearers any more, haha. Too much work, dealing with all those fry.