Wagtail Platy Fry

[MaxM]

I woke up today to find two Wagtail Platy Fry in my tank. Although there are plants in the tank to hide, I'm still worried that either my Betta or my Coridoras might eat them. Being that there are only two I'm assuming that others were born and eaten. I'm thinking of moving them into a breeder tank and add some moss.

My question is the following:

The mother is still large. Does it take several days to give birth? Should I add her with them? Being that I have only two I'm scared she'll eat them, but on the other hand if she still has to give birth I'm worried that the other fish (or she) will eat the other fry.

Advice?

[Crabby]

If the mother is still large, chances are it’s because she just ate most of her fry! The birthing process isn’t long, so unless you found the fry while she was in the middle of giving birth, she probably is done. I think from memory that live-bearers also still have larger than usual bellies for the first couple days after giving birth.

For your current fry, you’ll have to decide whether you trust your betta with them. I wouldn’t trust newborn fry with either of my betta fish, but it depends on your one’s individual temperament. As for cories, they’re not gonna touch the fry. They’re one of the nicest fish there is.

My advice would be to do as you said you were thinking, and put them in a breeder box with a little bit of moss. If you don’t have it already, you can get a product made by Hikari called First Bites; it’s a great food for young fry. You can keep it around for next time your platy gives birth (probably in about a month, if she’s still in with a male!).

For next time they breed, if your current breeder box doesn’t have a divider, maybe get a cheap one with a drop-down divider that allows fry to fall into a cavity below the hungry female. I’ve used those for good breeding success. Super cheap too, and very handy.

[Olsen]

I think that they should be fine I have had platy fry in a lightly planted 20 gal. It had small 2 Amazon swords a 9 inch driftwood piece and a rock with a school of black skirt tetra and bloodfin tetra only two made it I had only ever seen 3 or 4 fry in there if you want to be safe do a breeder box.