# Platy Fish Babies



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

Last night I bought 3 new platy females to add to my 20gal community tank as I noticed my one male platy was chasing this one female. I had 2 males and 3 females so the male to female ratio was off. Anyways they were all good last night. 
Today on my break from classes I came home and couldn't find my red wag female. As I searched the tank I noticed a little baby fish swim by. Just as I was grabbing my net and spare cup female betta ate the baby  That was when I came to the conclusion my red wag female must be pregnant and is hiding while giving birth. 
I wanted to save the babies so I decided to put her in a breeding box while I went back to school for the afternoon as I didn't have time to set up a nice temp tank for her and the babies.
Came back 3 hours later and there were no babies but she was still pregnant fat looking. So I went ahead and set up a 5.5gal tank for her to have the babies in. I used water from my 20gal and added lots of plants and stuff for the babies to hid. I also made the temp around 82F. I transferred her to this tank. Within 30min she had popped out 9 babies. I had to leave the house to go to the barn to take care of my horse, so I was comfortable with leaving her in the tank til she as done giving birth. 
Anyways I came home and she had 24 babies. I have a feeling that is all she is going to have. 

My question is do I leave her with the babies or can she go back in the 20gal?

Also what do you recommend to feed the babies? For tonight I have crushed up tropical fish flake food. I also have freeze dried bloodworms that I feed my bettas.


----------



## Mr B (May 20, 2014)

You should remove her if you want to keep the babies. 

Crushed flake is fine to feed the fry.


----------



## Pippin (Apr 11, 2014)

Put her back in the tank.I have kept guppies, which are also live-bearers,m so they do reproduce quickly. If you can, after this, separate all the males and females, or you have the potential to end up with more platies than you can keep. And sometimes the strain of having that many babies can kill the mothers, so after this, if you have the time and a tank, separate them.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

I decided to separate her last night as I wanted to keep the babies. I've had platies before but the females would tend to have her babies either when I'm not home or at night so I never got the chance to separate them. I am going to keep my males in the tank as I do not mind raising the babies as I have enough tanks and equipment to do so. 

Thanks for the help. I crushed some flakes last night as it was late and no stores were open. I went this morning and got some brine shrimp for them. Just fed them the brine shrimp and they love it!


----------



## noteworthy (Jan 5, 2014)

The ideal food for baby platy is Liquifry (for Livebearers). When they're very tiny, the babies do not have the drive/capability to chase after bits of broken up flake. They may suck at it/other food and gain enough nutrients needed, but a special liquid diet is best for the first week and a half. After then, you can safely feed ground up flake, dried bloodworm, baby daphnia etc. 

They're very hardy - I have had multiple "litters" from very young mothers and every single baby has survived. I recommend floating in a breeding net if you want them all to survive. You'll find more and more in a few days - some go unseen behind the filter, the mother may not be fully done yet etc. good luck!

They're beautiful. I have found that all my babies end up orange after a generation or two -must be a dominant allele. I'd love a blue or white one though


----------



## imaal (Aug 10, 2014)

Kasablanca, if you are feeding baby brine shrimp that is just fine and one of the best foods to feed fry. Livebearer fry can easily handle bbs from birth. Liquifry is intended for fry that are too small fro bbs and, even then, is a poor substitute for other microscopic live foods. And platy fry can most certainly handle flake foods if ground to a powder so by all means continue with that as well.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks for the advice!

The babies are doing great, they are now 24 hours old. They are in their own separate tank so no worries about any other fish eating them. Been feeding every 4-6 hours. Been doing some research online and thats whats recommended. Also been doing a daily 25% water change.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

Here is a picture of one of the babies


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

September 7 2014: The babies are 3 days old now. I did a 75% water change today as their tank is full of uneaten food. I was finally able to count exactly how many I have. A total of 46 platy babies. There were 47, but one died. He was very small and looked like the fins were clamped. 
I also added a small air stone to the tank. It is on a very low setting. Just enough to create water movement and aeration in the water. It will also help them strengthen their fins.


----------



## kevinap2 (Apr 3, 2014)

This why I keep my platys with my sorority. I have no idea what I would do with 47 platy babies. I noticed one that survived about 6 weeks ago, and I figured if it survived a few days not being eaten by it's parents and the bettas, it deserved a chance to live, so I bought it a breeder net.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

September 10 2014: Babies are 6 days old now. They have been doing well. I haven't counted them recently but there are still a lot! 

My plan is to raise them properly so they have a full chance at life. I will keep some and give some to my friend who has a 20gal that she wants to start. It will give her time to set it up as the babies wont be ready to go for another 2 months. I will then sell the rest locally to other fish enthusiasts for just a little cheaper than what petsmart offers. But we shall see how this goes. The babies are almost a week old so they still have lots of time to plan their futures


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

@Kevinap2 - I had that happen to me 4 years ago when I first had platies. Woke up one morning to notice a baby that was at least 2 months old. Little guy survived that long without me knowing! He was big enough though that non of the other fish ate him. He was then named Tough Guy 
I hope to rehome the babies I don't keep. Let's see how many out of the 46 are strong enough to survive.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

Took some photos today. This one was the best one as they move to quickly


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

September 12 2014: The fry are 8 days old now. They are starting to get darker black markings on their tails and top fin. I'm thinking they will be just like mom who is a red wag. Would be cool if there are some sunburst or another colour.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

September 22 2014: Been a while since I posted. Fry are 18 days old. There are still 46 of them. They are swimming more now and their colours are starting to show up more. A few are dark orange close to red, while a majority are still that light orange/yellow. Most have black on their tail fins.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

October 2 2014: Happy 1 month birthday babies! The little guys are growing up. Some are dark orange almost red, while others are more yellow. Most have the black on their tails.


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)




----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)




----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

Meet Nemo, the one in the upper right corner. He was born with a deformed tail fin. However that hasnt stopped him. He is one of the bigger babies.


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

be prepared, I have hundred, because store sold me a female with 2 males when I asked for 3 males....

and they reproduce young too


----------



## Kasablanca (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks for the heads up AlgarveblueVT. But this was the one batch I saved. The other platies in my community tank look pregnant but I am going to let nature take its course with those fry, survival of the fittest. These fry will be rehomed as soon as they are big enough.


----------



## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Babies!  I love platies. A female Panda and a male Sunburst were my husband's and my first fin babies.


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

*platies*



Kasablanca said:


> Thanks for the heads up AlgarveblueVT. But this was the one batch I saved. The other platies in my community tank look pregnant but I am going to let nature take its course with those fry, survival of the fittest. These fry will be rehomed as soon as they are big enough.


I havent been able to split males and females yet... should have done a long time ago.
my problems is I cant rehome them, and dont have space.
All I have is a 40L com tank and a 12L fish bowl, both planted with plants planted in substrate.

My 40L com tank has shrimp and nerites, but I have to clean it soon so will look at ways of seperating them,I have in total maybe 30+

need to seperate male and females and small fry, will try to put small fry I think in 12L fish bowl, but might have to leave male and females together, as I havent seen anymore breeding at the mo.


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

I have read that platies like slightly salty water , and say to add xteasspoons per gal.

can anybody here verify this before I add some aquarium salt?


----------



## Pippin (Apr 11, 2014)

Mine have done fine without salt, I think it might be just for the hardness of the water, but I'll check. But unless t is to adjust the hardness of the water, platies are fresh water, not brackish or marine, so I'll check if it's for hardness....


Yep, it is. Just check the hardness of the water of you platies, to see if it needs adjusting. It should only if it is soft. You are going to ask someone else what that means, as I have no clue about adjusting hardness of fish tanks.


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

my water is well water, so it has lots and lots of calcium, and lots of minerals


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

After reading ur post, I thought I would separate my platies and re-do their bowl.

so I thought I would share their new set-up


----------



## Pippin (Apr 11, 2014)

Those guys have grown!


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

and growing...


----------



## AlgarveblueVT (Jul 11, 2013)

found 2 new fry in community tank-
one has now been moved to nursery 
the other is difficult to catch


----------

