Separate fry tank vs fry in main tank?

Hey everyone,

Just wondering about your opinions on raising fry in the main tank with parents or using a separate fry tank for newborns to grow out until they're old enough to not be eaten by parents.

I have a 29 gallon tank with platies and am planning on keeping the pregnant moms in this main tank and have some floating plants for cover for any fry that are born. I wouldn't move fish to a birthing trap or anything like that because in my experience it stresses them out too much. My only issue with this is being able to monitor and feed the babies to the extent that they need, which might be more difficult in a larger tank (plus dealing with hungry tank mates, etc).

Thoughts? If I cycled a smaller tank in preparation for fry and scoop them up and move them when I see them in the main tank, what size would you all recommend? 10-20 gallon, or something smaller?

Thanks!

 

I tried years ago with guppies and it was always hard because they ended up getting eaten. I know I see a lot breeders throw large amounts of Java moss in for them to hide in and I think that helps a lot.

but I also think it makes it easy having a bare bottom tank with just a sponge filter running when your trying to grow them out.

I guess the question really is do you want to breed and sell these. Or just be able to have a few survivors here and there. that kind of drives where you leave them!

 

It depends on what you're planning to do with the fry. Livebearers can have a LOT of fry, so if you want to keep them all I would just leave them in the main tank. If you want to breed and sell, cycle a separate tank. If it's just for fun, keep them in the main tank because the population will explode if you protect all the fry. Plenty of floating plants will provide nice cover and a decent amount of fry should survive.

 

Being they are livebearers you will eventually need multiple tanks. Some births will be low 5-10 but some can be as many as 30-40 and possibly more. Also they will usually under the right conditions they will drop fry monthly. My suggestion is leave them in the main tank unless you have a plan to sell them to your LFS for store credit or have another plan like an aquarium club or social media to get rid of some.

 

My setup for guppies and platies(I’ve done both).:
I have my 36 gallon bowfront that houses the adults, I leave the female in the tank and they have their babies, I really don’t notice them eating fry ever. I let teh babies grow a bit then onece or twice a month I go into the tank and catch almost all the babies and put them in a 10 gallon grow out tank until they reach market size.

 

I'm planning on selling or donating fry to my LFS so I think I might cycle a simple 15 or 20 gallon tank with a sponge filter to have when I'm ready to raise up a batch. Seems easier that way and at least I'll have more options to divide up the group down the road.

I see some people going with 5 or 10 gallon tanks (or smaller) for fry but those seem trickier to maintain good clean parameters, especially with the amount of feedings younger fish require. I think I'd rather be able to let them grow out properly in a decent size tank until they're ready to be sold.

 

I think that's a good idea! What variety of platy do you keep?