i’m feeding flakes and bloodworms twice a day and the lighting is mediumWhat are you feeding them and how many times a day? How is your lighting in the tank?
How much were you feeding initially? Fry usually need tons of feedings anywhere from 5-10. They can eat every ~30 minutes or so. Platy fry usually fully grow within ~3 months, so that's kind of a red flag that yours haven't fully grown within 7 months. Also, some adults don't make it past an inch, the bigger ones are usually the ones being sold retail, so it could be just a smaller bach in general. How's the coloration on them? If they're fully colored and about an inch in size they could actually be fully grown.i’m feeding flakes and bloodworms twice a day and the lighting is medium
How much were you feeding initially? Fry usually need tons of feedings anywhere from 5-10. They can eat every ~30 minutes or so. Platy fry usually fully grow within ~3 months, so that's kind of a red flag that yours haven't fully grown within 7 months. Also, some adults don't make it past an inch, the bigger ones are usually the ones being sold retail, so it could be just a smaller bach in general. How's the coloration on them? If they're fully colored and about an inch in size they could actually be fully grown.
I started doing them every 4 days but now I do 50 percent once a weekHow often were you doing water changes in their grow out tank? Fish emit a growth hormone that can stunt the growth of their siblings. We have to keep those hormones down with water change. If we don't growth will slow down.
To help fry grow fast and to their full potential we have to feed often and keep the hormones down with water changes. Before I managed to reduce the number of pleco fry I had I was doing daily water changes in their grow out tank. Now I do them every 3 days.
That should have been plenty with so few fish in a 10 gallon tank.I started doing them every 4 days but now I do 50 percent once a week
As long as she is otherwise healthy I wouldn't cull her.I do have one with a deformity. She has a bent spine and is a little smaller. The fish has been eating and swimming fine, so I don’t want to cull, but should I?
Do you think that I accidentally bred dwarf platys somehow? I also moved the original “fry” to my 10 gallon planted tank to protect the newborn fry.That should have been plenty with so few fish in a 10 gallon tank.
As long as she is otherwise healthy I wouldn't cull her.
Any thing is possible. Was your female pregnant when you got her? If she was we can't know if she bred with a dwarf. Since you found a fry we have to assume the originals are now adults and will probably not grow any bigger.Do you think that I accidentally bred dwarf platys somehow? I also moved the original “fry” to my 10 gallon planted tank to protect the newborn fry.
My female is a yellow Mickey Mouse platy and the make is a red wagtail. Both were about 2 inches. She was not pregnant when I bought her. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I do have a pair of swordtails in the same tank that could have hybridized? Also, will the fish get any more color even if they don’t grow?Any thing is possible. Was your female pregnant when you got her? If she was we can't know if she bred with a dwarf. Since you found a fry we have to assume the originals are now adults and will probably not grow any bigger.
I had some molly fry for a while. Some grew as they should but 2 of them stayed very small. I have one bristle nose pleco that stopped growing at about an inch long. She is about 1 1/2 years old now. She is the perfect size for a 5.5 gallon tank. All this to say. Not all fish grow to the average size for their species.
I really don't know. I had mollies for a very short time. I've never had platy's. I decided they were not the fish for me. I love a peaceful tank. They were far from peaceful so disrupted the harmony in my tank. I found them a new home.My female is a yellow Mickey Mouse platy and the make is a red wagtail. Both were about 2 inches. She was not pregnant when I bought her. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I do have a pair of swordtails in the same tank that could have hybridized? Also, will the fish get any more color even if they don’t grow?
Oh wow very interesting... I have 2 cory catfish and a guppy (with a large mouth) as well as a snail in my main tank (which is a 10g) I fear the fry will get beaten up but I could test it out. Would they grow better if the adults were say... cory catfish that probably wouldn't attempt to kill them? I'm also afraid I wouldn't be able to see them since my tank is crowded with plants and decor. Do you think they would hide like they did when they were first born or would they be more active?They are probably big enough to go back in the main tank unless you have BIG fish in there. My wife tells me that platy fry grow better when adult hirmones are present in the water.
Thanks, I can try daily water changes. Any other input on fry not growing because of other fry hormones?To get fry to grow fast in any tank they must have fresh water often. In a 2.5 gallon that would be daily temperature matched conditioned water changes. In a ten gallon it’s still an advantage to change part ( 40% ) of the water two or three times.
I know this seems extreme but until you try multiple water changes for oneself in a fry grow out tank I would completely understand anyone who thinks this is hot air.
I did not think it would make as much of a difference myself until I tried it in my ten gallon grow out tanks.
It is said.
Fry release a hormone into water that that stops other fry from growing. This I believe to be true?
I do have lights.DO you have lights on your tank?