titusxander

so one of my platies had babies today. I was changing her water and it was lucky i looked because i saw babies! The water was really dirty so i had to change it. I moved the babies and when i checked back on them 6 out of the 10 had died. Could moving them have stressed them out and killed them? they couldn't have been more than a day or two old. can any one answer this for me so i won't make the mistake again if this is what caused it?

matt6765

Was there a drastic pH or temp. change?

titusxander

i don't know that. i don't own a water test kit (an investment i need to make), i get all my water tested by the LFS (locally owned). It could be a possiblity though. But would moving them stress them out enough to kill them?

matt6765

well if there was a drastic change then yes..... I would advise you get a test kit..... how often do you do water changes?

titusxander

that was their first water change. i had changed it last weekend before they were born. I have about 8 guppy fry that are almost 2 weeks and i do at least a 30% water change every couple of days and they seem fine.

matt6765

hmmm..... what water conditioner do you use?

titusxander

API tap water conditioner. This past friday the guy at the LFS got me to buy some Prime water conditioner (is that the right name for it?) but i haven't started using it yet because it's a 4 hour wait after you add it. So i'm going to mix up some water with it tommorrow.

matt6765

A lot of people use Prime and like it.... I dont think you have to wait 4 hours though.... maybe I am wrong though

titusxander

i really don't know that much about Prime. It doesn't say 4 hours on the bottle but that's what the LFS guy says and he really knows alot about fish. After the 6 platy fry died i put the other 4 in the tank with my almost two week old guppy fry. Did i make a mistake?

matt6765

How big are the guppy fry?

titusxander

maybe 1/2"? definatley under an inch.

matt6765

well I think it would be ok but watch for signs of aggression

cerianthus

As long as you dont repeat the same mistake, it is OK. I amnot syaing you did.
Next time you find yourself in same or similar situation, have breeder trap handy or alike. You can use new/clean turkey baster to gently suck up frys, if one at time, so be it, and gently squirt them out in brreder trap or alike. If turkey baster is not avail, can use any rigid tubing, even long air tubing to suck up as in pipette.

Idea is to keep fry in the same water no matter how bad the water maybe. SLowly /gradually make the water better with small but more frequent water changes. For babys, I would recommend to use aged water rather than straight tap reagrdless of Prime or not.

PufferofDoom

Where did you move them? Newborn fry do better if theyre kept in the water they were born in for the first couple of days, in which a hanging separation/breeder box is good for.

Ive never used prime, but for regular WC's you shouldnt have to wait for 4 hours, most conditioners are instant. Then again someone who's used it can give you a better answer.

you prob dont have to worry about aggression, besides hierarchy and such among species. Something better to watch out for is that an adult or mature enough fry doesnt start looking at the newborns as food.

coffeebean

moving the fry itself wont kill them, a drastic change in temp or water conditions could. i move all my fry to a separate tank

titusxander

i feel horrible now poor baby platies. i moved them back in to the tank that they were born in, then when most of them died i moved them into the tank with the small guppy fry. the platy fry was sort of unexpected but i would have still kept them. now i know what not to do. seems like i'm having big trouble with fish. first all my guppies die, then my 10 gallon gets overrun by ICH (pretty much under control), and now this...gah.

PufferofDoom

Really instead of moving them at all, its better to just put them in a breeder box in the tank they were born in, so they are safe and can get used to life.
After a couple days or a week, and they are a bit older, it will be safer to move them to a separate tank.

titusxander

thanks for the great advice guys! now i know what not to do. i really didn't have a choice on where to move them because i only have the 10 gallon with the Ich infestation, the 1 gallon guppy tank, the 1 gallon hospital tank (which was where the platy was), and a 20 gallon that has just begun cycling.