Unexpected fry

[ClearEyes]

I had a male swordtail in with some female platys. I knew interbreeding was going to be a potential problem, so I gave the swordtail back to the LFS a couple weeks back.

But apparently I was too late, because, imagine my surprise, when I saw a little fry in my tank last night! I went to bed and went to a 4th of July party today, assuming the fry would just get eaten. But today, it's still alive! And she (I think it's a she - it's kinda hard to ID the analfin, since he/she is so small). I don't have any kind of breeding tank...what's my best course of action? Just hope she survives? She seems savvy enough to hide in the back where no one will bother her. I have a dwarf gouramI in the tank, as well as a bunch of ghost shrimp, so it seems she might get eaten.

Is this a lost cause? I don't mind having a new fish in the tank, and I have room for it, but I'm stressed out about her survival chances.

 

[Bijou88]

When they're little they all start out looking female. Every one of my 2+ month old platy fry still appear female. I would just leave her in there, the adults might not eat her. If she's survived this long she's got a pretty good chance, there may even be other survivors you just haven't seen yet. Some kind of floating plants to hide in will greatly increase her chance of survival.

 

[Gekco]

If there are lots of places for the fry to hide then IMO the fry's survival rate should be high because they can hide from any possible predators.

 

[Anders247]

I'd personally let nature take it's course. If it gets eaten, it gets eaten, and if it survives, it survives.
Yeah, fry start out looking like females.....

 

[Aloeb1]

I think there is a good chance of survival