What Is The Best Way To Find And Catch Fry?

I'm currently trying to use a turkey baster while using a flashlight to try and spot them easier. Before I've used a net which was hard and had some success using a small cup to scoop them out.

Using s turkey baster seems to be a lot easier so far but man is it hard to actually find them and then Everytime I do and I go for them they disappear! So frustrating xP

I need some help from experienced breeders and fry catchers!

 

honestly, I don't catch them, I have enough plants in the tank that they can hide, or I put a pregnant female in a 10 gal tank on her own to have the fry, then net the mom when she has completed the task

 

What fish do you breed?

 

Platies right now

Trying to give her a bit of a break before go terrorize their tank again lol

 

How many fish are in your tank? Only one species?

What do you plan on the babies? Profit? Remove them so they won't populate?

 

I have 4 females and 1 male platies and 1 male betta.

For right now I'm going to use the few babies I've been managing to save as a learning experience. Though some will be saved for a breeding project I have in mind for them.

The ones I do not want to keep will be fed to my other bettas and any that survive this that I do not want I will rehome


Sadly it seems like during my quick nap my fish ate the few babies I knew were in there but was failing to catch. My girl who gave birth still looks squared off so I'll check again in a couple hours but going from my last experience I probably won't manage to catch anymore fry


But my eventual goal once I produce what I want and get them to breed true and have a good amount of diversity to their lines will be profit. Not looking to make a lot and may end up just giving them away to people who want them but yeah.

Right now I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about the whole process and what's the best way to go about things

 

If your purpose for fish is breeding, it is best to breed your pair of fish alone in a tank (1-5 gallon will do) as they might get stressed by other fish.

 

Isn't that ratio bad for livebearers? My fish are perfectly happy all together in my 10 gallon and no one bothers each other. And with a ratio of 1 to 4 none of my females get pestered for too long when he wants to mate

Also this is about how to catch fry not how I should be breeding them. Lol

 

Isn't that ratio bad for livebearers? My fish are perfectly happy all together in my 10 gallon and no one bothers each other. And with a ratio of 1 to 4 none of my females get pestered for too long when he wants to mate

Also this is about how to catch fry not how I should be breeding them. Lol

Well, put the pregnant female in an empty tank so you can easily grab all the fry

 

Well, put the pregnant female in an empty tank so you can easily grab all the fry

Hmm I'll try to see if I can get better at spotting when they're about to give birth and try this next time.

I know I will not use breeder boxes at all but I think putting her in another small tank till she finishes giving birth wouldn't be too hard on them

My current issue is I'm really bad at telling when they're about to pop . I know to look for them being boxy but I can't quite tell the difference between fat and boxy. I could only tell with her cuz she's a balloon belly and she litteraly turned into a square with fins

 

Hmm I'll try to see if I can get better at spotting when they're about to give birth and try this next time.

I know I will not use breeder boxes at all but I think putting her in another small tank till she finishes giving birth wouldn't be too hard on them

My current issue is I'm really bad at telling when they're about to pop . I know to look for them being boxy but I can't quite tell the difference between fat and boxy. I could only tell with her cuz she's a balloon belly and she litteraly turned into a square with fins

Just count days, when it is near 25-30 days, just put her in another tank. Cross the calendars as the days pass

 

Ooo okay that's smart.

So made a fry trap out of a water bottle to try to catch any leftover fry I can't find.. guess who I keep catching instead? omg Pluto not everything is yours. It's his new happy place apparently cuz he keeps coming back to snuggle in it


Edit

Lol he was in there again so I went over and was all Pluto get out! And he swam over to me all excited and kept showing me his bottle (swimming back and forth between me and the bottle super excitedly)

 

I think you have a future as a fish trainer.

I am breeding guppies and I move the mommies before they give birth. You’ll learn when that is over time but, IMO, it’s not a bad thing to move them a few days early so they can relax before giving birth.

And I leave them in for a few days after to recover. It might cost me a few fry but I keep them fed well (blood worms, brine shrimp) and I haven’t noticed significant losses.

 

I'm currently trying to use a turkey baster while using a flashlight to try and spot them easier. Before I've used a net which was hard and had some success using a small cup to scoop them out.

Using s turkey baster seems to be a lot easier so far but man is it hard to actually find them and then Everytime I do and I go for them they disappear! So frustrating xP

I need some help from experienced breeders and fry catchers!

I used the vacuum and put them in a bucket them scooped them out with a skimmer net worked out great

 

I breed platys, endlers and Mollies, and I never really try to "capture" 'em; I just wait. What that does is, 1. Determines if they're still actually eating, surviving and are alive. 2. Will NOT stress the babies out as much. 3. See numbers 1 and 2. But if you absolutely need to catch 'em, for transportation purposes and so forth, just use a brine shrimp net. I've caught 'em plenty of times, but stopped doing that, because they're babies and are even more so susceptible of dying from just simple, taken for granted stress. One time a dalmation Molly had about 30 fry. I transported them into a 10 gal...and after only 2 days there was only 10 survivors. : ( You need to very very very, VERY careful.

 

I breed platys, endlers and Mollies, and I never really try to "capture" 'em; I just wait. What that does is, 1. Determines if they're still actually eating, surviving and are alive. 2. Will NOT stress the babies out as much. 3. See numbers 1 and 2. But if you absolutely need to catch 'em, for transportation purposes and so forth, just use a brine shrimp net. I've caught 'em plenty of times, but stopped doing that, because they're babies and are even more so susceptible of dying from just simple, taken for granted stress. One time a dalmation Molly had about 30 fry. I transported them into a 10 gal...and after only 2 days there was only 10 survivors. : ( You need to very very very, VERY careful.

Mine were big enough that I could start to see them eating at top before I moved them

 

Kinda weird though...most fry IME, tend to favor eating from the bottom... Yeah, that's generally the sure indication eh?

 

Dalmatian fry

They are Dalmatian molly fry