Maggie Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 (edited) My new 20 long is finally ready for fish. Yesterday while at petco for ember tetras for my shrimp tank, I saw the most adorable black and yellow guppies, and haven't been able to get them off my mind since. I had been planning on making the 3-hour round trip to the last of the three LFS in the Boston area, but there's no guarantee they'd have guppies or any community fish that I'd want, as they deal a lot with cichlids and "rare/unusual" fish. The first two LFS were very disappointing to say the least! So, I might just do the 5 minute drive to petco. The aquatics staff in this particular store (and actually in every petco I've been to) seem knowledgeable and caring. I guess I was spoiled rotten by House of Tropicals and a thriving LFC when I lived in Maryland. I haven't been to any Boston club meetings yet, but their online forum is completely lacking in who's selling fish and plants. Anyway...here is the aquarium ready to go. Lots and lots of biofilm on the wood, zero ammonia and nitrite, <5 nitrate. Edited December 18, 2021 by Maggie 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Beautiful tank. Best of luck with your new fish. I’m following your journey I love guppies ❤️ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 Well, silly silly me. What I thought at first were guppies are actually young platys. Oh well, I guess it's a platy tank for now tho I may get some female guppies to liven it up a little, and hope I can find a dwarf gourami (powder blue would be nice to offset the yellow and black), as I've been wanting one for a long time now. The female platy is teeny and the male is only about 1". I also got two plain (olive?) nerite snails for this tank, both of whom have disappeared for now. Time to go read up on platy care. They're pretty nervous right now so I didn't get very good pics. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 I know they're not what you wanted, but they're still cool platies, nonetheless! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Your tank looks beautiful! I've had good luck with the fish I have bought from the super nice Petco one town away. I love platies and have them in a few colors. Are you planning to breed them? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 19, 2021 Author Share Posted December 19, 2021 (edited) Hi @PineSong, not planning to breed them but they probably have something else in mind! 💝💝 If I end up with too many I'll probably donate them to the Boston A.S. as shipping fish is not something I've ever done or want to do. @Chris, I know, I still think guppies are the most adorable little wiggle-butts. I didn't read up a lot on platys, but since buying them it sounds like they're going to work out pretty nicely. Edited December 19, 2021 by Maggie 5 am typos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 19, 2021 Author Share Posted December 19, 2021 (edited) The little boy was going nuts today. Tried to chase the baby and got very frustrated, swimming along the back bottom. I hope it's because he was lonely because I went back to Petco and got this pretty lady. Edit: after half hour of F being in the tank, M has perked right up. Amazing. Edited December 19, 2021 by Maggie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 Looks like the lovebirds are getting along pretty nicely! 💘 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 @Maggieyou must have the Barry White playing! All seriousness I have both platys and guppies and they have some really unique attributes and are super enjoyable. Plus I’m just a sucker for any platy that’s not a Mickey Mouse platy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 The platy fam having Christmas dinner last night. Baby girl is really growing, and Mom seems to be getting a little wider, hmmm. Dad enjoys picking on the anubias. They're settling in pretty nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 Mama platy had some babies but I've only seen 1 or 2. She's been hunting for them. Yesterday I moved the ember tetras into this tank (along with more water sprite to float for the platy fry) and they've brought so much life...they follow the platys around and everyone gets along great. The tetras are stunning when the late afternoon sunlight hits the aquarium for a few minutes. In the gifs you can see papa and baby girl platy having lots of fun...they've been going at it for days. She even chases him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 Platy fry are a week old today. I've counted 11. They're all growing nicely and some are starting to get a little color. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 Platy fry update: becoming more beautiful every day. Here's one that's really coloring nicely. Mama's getting round again, as is Baby Girl, my now sub-adult female...but I found out my local big box pet store will take back fry when I get overcrowded! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 On 2/8/2022 at 7:17 AM, Maggie said: Platy fry update: becoming more beautiful every day. Here's one that's really coloring nicely. Mama's getting round again, as is Baby Girl, my now sub-adult female...but I found out my local big box pet store will take back fry when I get overcrowded! That is a neat arrangement of color--I wonder what that guy will look like grown. I accidentally have wayyy too many platy fry and I'm eager to see what colors they turn out. Moms are blue but so far all the babies are silver, some with stripes and some with tux patterns. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 Meet Frank, my new powder blue dwarf gourami. He's about 1.5" now and in quarantine, but will go in with the platys in a few weeks. I've wanted a gourami for a long time now and he'll contrast nicely with the warm colors of the platys and tetras. Can't wait till he gets settled in and colors up more. I'm also adding pic of a fry who stayed still long enough for a clear photo. They're all over the tank now and are too big to be eaten by Mama or Baby Girl, though they still sometimes give a cursory chase (Papa never really tried much). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Frank is handsome but that fry is too cute 😍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 Frank is starting to get more color. I just love gouramis. (And platys, guppies, tetras, rasboras...) He's so personable and is already more calm when I approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 Well, I appears that I have a second batch of platy fry! I've only seen two but I think they're Baby Girl's, as Papa has been literally chasing her tail all day. The older fry are getting so big now, and my original count of 11 has gone up to 15 now (plus the newbies). Frank the gourami is doing great in quarantine, tho he is antsy to go to a bigger home and is always hungry. I fed him frozen bloodworms which sink right away, and it took him over an hour to discover them - apparently was his first time having this treat. He looks so healthy and robust - can't wait to put him in the main tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 Frank is settling in pretty well. He made a bubble nest! He's sort of aggressive with all the fish if they get too close, but oddly, really goes after Baby Girl. Papa platy still tries to mate with him. Fish drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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