# Community Tank and Babies



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

I'm always talking bettas on this site, so I thought I'd share my other tank for a bit of a change. It's a 20 gal community tank with live bearers and a basic "clean up crew." 

This morning one of my guppies dropped fry. I saved about 25 of them but the rest weren't so lucky. 

The tank has live plants and fake plants. I utilize the fake plants as fry hideouts because I am not always around to catch them. Most of the fake ones are floating, but there are a few buried in the gravel as well. 

So here it is, my community tank...


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

Very nice here are a few of my other tanks: 29 gallon that although looks empty currently houses 3 black skirts, and an injured Angelfish who is recovering from a Bashir attack, as well as, an upside down catfish, a 125 housing 2 Oscars, and a 45 gallon with 3 juvenile African Rope and 1 juvenile Bashir.


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Wow! I really like the 125 gal. Very nice! What is the red Oscar on the left?


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

I'm sorry, I'm a little slow today, Red Oscar on the Left???? Do you mean what Type?? If so, the one on the left is a 11-12in (He may be longer by now, haven't measured in a while.) Tiger and the one on the right is a Red Flame.... The Red Flame is a confirmed female, however we are still unsure of the Tiger's gender.. We are assuming, based on overall behavior etc., that he is male....


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Yes, what type is what I meant to say lol. Sorry it didn't come out clear! ;-)

He's an awesome fish from what I can see in the picture. Even though it's most likely the flash from the camera, I like how his eye is glowing!


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

As it turns out as of yesterday we had wigglers. I can safely say I own a M/F bonded pair!!!&#55356;&#57118;&#55357;&#56451;&#55357;&#56451;&#55357;&#56842;


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

Gargamel (Male) is the Tiger, Azrael (Female) is the Flame..... These are some older pictures (taken in December I think going by décor in tank... May be a bit earlier)... They are currently just over one year of age....


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

SeaKnight said:


> As it turns out as of yesterday we had wigglers. I can safely say I own a M/F bonded pair!!!��������


Babies!?


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

I really like Gargamel. He's one handsome fish!


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

Yes, babies.. It is still way too early to tell whether any will survive however... But we are keeping our fingers crossed..


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

SeaKnight said:


> Yes, babies.. It is still way too early to tell whether any will survive however... But we are keeping our fingers crossed..


Very awesome! Post some pics if you can!!


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Here are the baby guppies. Nothing too special really. This is actually my first two spawns ever!


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Another view. There are 3 days old and 1 day old guppies in there.


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

I will definitely post some, as soon as, they (if any) make it to free swimming....


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Well I woke up to find about 30 more new fry in the main tank today. I was able to get about 12-15 out and put them into the fry tank with the other two spawns. This drop had white and yellow fry. Can't wait to see how they all turn out. I have about 50-60 fry total, between the 3 drops, in their own tank. 

However, also up top floating around the fry this morning was one of the guppy mommies. She had no signs of disease or otherwise indication of anything wrong, but sadly she was dead by the time I saw her up there. I will need to get a male or two separated now because her death throws the balance off.


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

I've lost a few females (guppies, mollies and platy) to the birthing process.. Unfortunately it does happen... Good luck with the fry..


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Thanks. So far so good. I've only lost one of the fry so far. It seems like it was a deformity of some type. I posted in this section with a pic. 

I just saw your video of the Oscar fry. Good luck with them and keep posting updates!


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

Double post


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

Unfortunately, we had a moderate accident yesterday with the tank that sent the parents into panic mode and us into a frenzy to "decontaminate" the tank... I believe, in their attempts to protect the fry, they inadvertently swallowed the majority of them leaving only 5-6 survivors (out of 20-30), which we are not sure will survive, but are doing our best to help along (they have been removed from the main tank and are in their own "private" set up)....


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

SeaKnight said:


> Unfortunately, we had a moderate accident yesterday with the tank that sent the parents into panic mode and us into a frenzy to "decontaminate" the tank... I believe, in their attempts to protect the fry, they inadvertently swallowed the majority of them leaving only 5-6 survivors (out of 20-30), which we are not sure will survive, but are doing our best to help along (they have been removed from the main tank and are in their own "private" set up)....


Oh crap, what happened!? I hope everyone is okay - mother, father and babies that were left!

I know nothing at all about Oscar fry - are they self sufficient or do they need parental help to grow until a certain point?

Sorry to hear about this and I really hope you get things back to normal very soon!


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

Enzenga21 said:


> Oh crap, what happened!? I hope everyone is okay - mother, father and babies that were left!
> 
> I know nothing at all about Oscar fry - are they self sufficient or do they need parental help to grow until a certain point
> Sorry to hear about this and I really hope you get things back to normal very soon!


They can be separated, however, I am a firm believer in letting nature take it's course (except in cases, were my involvement may have caused harm), and was allowing them to raise the brood.. What happen was, I had my friend and her children here unexpectedly (both are "special" needs) and her son managed to climb up on top of the 125 and lost his balance causing the food he had in his hand, as well as, some other stuff that was on the shelf above to fall in the tank .. (At the time, my Dh was replacing a part on her car and I was assisting him and my friend had taken her daughter to the bathroom) We managed to "save" 6 of the fry initially, but unfortunately I think the stress of everything was too much because I found all 6 floating at the top of their tank this morning.. :-(


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

SeaKnight said:


> They can be separated, however, I am a firm believer in letting nature take it's course (except in cases, were my involvement may have caused harm), and was allowing them to raise the brood.. What happen was, I had my friend and her children here unexpectedly (both are "special" needs) and her son managed to climb up on top of the 125 and lost his balance causing the food he had in his hand, as well as, some other stuff that was on the shelf above to fall in the tank .. (At the time, my Dh was replacing a part on her car and I was assisting him and my friend had taken her daughter to the bathroom) We managed to "save" 6 of the fry initially, but unfortunately I think the stress of everything was too much because I found all 6 floating at the top of their tank this morning.. :-(


Damn. I'm sorry to hear that. 

You've had them how long now and that was the only time they had babies!? 

I'm sorry man. I hope they try again for you soon!


----------



## SeaKnight (May 24, 2013)

They are still young ( with each one being at just over one year of age ) and have spawned a total of 4 times in the past 2 months or so (they, as a species, are capable of "breeding" every 2-6 weeks depending on the availability of suitable environmental conditions..) This was their first spawn to make it to the wigglers/fry stage.. I have been told that it can take Several years before a pair even THINKS of spawning, so to have a pair not only Bond but produce what, I believe, would have been a totally successful Spawn, had it not been for the accident, in such a short amount of time is gratifying/encouraging (gives a great sense of accomplishment in that, we must be doing something right)... However, in the same token I will not be heartbroken if they never spawn again.... KWIM???


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

SeaKnight said:


> They are still young ( with each one being at just over one year of age ) and have spawned a total of 4 times in the past 2 months or so (they, as a species, are capable of "breeding" every 2-6 weeks depending on the availability of suitable environmental conditions..) This was their first spawn to make it to the wigglers/fry stage.. I have been told that it can take Several years before a pair even THINKS of spawning, so to have a pair not only Bond but produce what, I believe, would have been a totally successful Spawn, had it not been for the accident, in such a short amount of time is gratifying/encouraging (gives a great sense of accomplishment in that, we must be doing something right)... However, in the same token I will not be heartbroken if they never spawn again.... KWIM???


Oh, my mistake. I'm not sure why I thought you had them for a long time. 

For sure, I'd be proud and happy that I was providing ideal and pristine conditions so much that they attempted to do it so soon and bonded so quickly. 

The accident aside, congrats man! I don't know why I thought you had them a long time lol.


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

So I've been having a bad time with these guppy fry. 

One died of a deformity. 

Then about 10 more randomly died. Fine at night and dead when I woke up in the am. 

Now I just had 28 more die. Same thing - randomly. Were fine this am before work and I get home tonight and they are dead. 

I have 22 left now. Moved them all into a holding "tank" while I clean their tank really well. They are pictured below. 

I'm not sure what the heck is happening. All readings are normal, temp is good, tank is 2.5 gal with air stone on low. They eat fine. No noticeable health issues. Very active. It's strange!


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Only fry left..


----------



## Bunnyreader (Aug 7, 2014)

Hi!

I'm a beginner, and I have a 1.5gal tank. I have 2 swordtails, 1 black tetra and recently I bought a pregnant platy. Because I didn't know how long she had been pregnant I bought her a 2-way breeder. I took out the division of it, cus I felt sad about leaving her in such a small space for unknown time. Yesterday I had to take out the black tetra on a separate tank because I found out it had ich. SO I decided to wash the tank completely and make a 100% water change to avoid the other fish gettiing ich too. While I washed the tank I put them on another recepient. My pregnant platy jumped out of the water while I was away. I came back on time (fortunately she was still alive), and put her back into the water. Then I set up the tank again, arranged their plants, used Tetra aquasafe plus, and Tetra EasyBalance plus. I put the back the swrodtails into the tank, and then I placed the breeder in the tank, and put the Platy in it. 

Today in the morning when I came in, there was a jelly-like thing on the corner of the breeder with tiny white spots. A friend says those are her eggs, but I have read platies are livebearers. Did my platy have an abortion? 

After this I put in the breeder's division in case they are really eggs from which the fries can be born, and also in case she drops anything else. I don't know whether I rather put her out of the breeder or what. She still has a tiny white spot between her anal fins (which I have read it's a symptom of pregancy), though it is smaller than before.

Here you may see the pics of the thing she dropped

Fishy Tank Photos by bunnyreader | Photobucket


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Here are a couple pics of some of the fry I think are cool...


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Some more. Sorry so blurry!


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

This picture shows the main color of the rest of the fry. Hopefully they will color up as they age!


----------



## Enzenga21 (Jun 29, 2014)

Bunnyreader said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm a beginner, and I have a 1.5gal tank. I have 2 swordtails, 1 black tetra and recently I bought a pregnant platy. Because I didn't know how long she had been pregnant I bought her a 2-way breeder. I took out the division of it, cus I felt sad about leaving her in such a small space for unknown time. Yesterday I had to take out the black tetra on a separate tank because I found out it had ich. SO I decided to wash the tank completely and make a 100% water change to avoid the other fish gettiing ich too. While I washed the tank I put them on another recepient. My pregnant platy jumped out of the water while I was away. I came back on time (fortunately she was still alive), and put her back into the water. Then I set up the tank again, arranged their plants, used Tetra aquasafe plus, and Tetra EasyBalance plus. I put the back the swrodtails into the tank, and then I placed the breeder in the tank, and put the Platy in it.
> 
> ...



Your platy was most likely stressed from all of the moving and from jumping out, so she aborted. At least that's my guess here. You are correct, platys don't lay eggs, they have live babies. The babies come out and should start swimming immediately. They are then on their own - no help from the mom or dad. The egg looking stuff could have been your platy aborting her pregnancy. She could have also been egg bound and they just came out, but let another experienced member tell you if that was the case, I'm just not sure. 

Personally I do not use a breeder trap. I let nature do it's thing and will try to catch the fry out of the main tank in order to put them in their own tank away from harm or becoming a meal. 

Also, you have how many fish in a 1.5 gal tank?


----------

