Platy fry not growing. What to do?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Brickosaurus

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Dec 11, 2022
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The fry were first born January 21 in my 29g community tank. Only 8 survived being eaten by the other fish in the tank. I moved the 8 to a 5g grow out tank. But this is where I made the big mistake of not researching how much they need to be fed a day, I remembered hearing somewhere that platy fry must be fed once every other day... I know your probably cringing right now because they need to be fed around 3 times a day, or maybe even more?

So understandably they have not grown that much. They have grown a little (almost 2x there original size) and there is some coloration on there fins and body. I've been feeding them crushed Wardly Tropical Flakes. But my main question is will they still grow if I start feeding them properly? All 8 seem healthy with no deformities except the small size.

As I'm getting back into the hobby I'm slowly beginning to realize how much I still don't know.
 
The largest contributor for growth would be non nitrate water conditions. Also genetics could be the issue.
Agree with this, in a 5 gal tank, they would need a daily, partial water change to attain good growth, and...
all fry (no mater what kind of fish) need small multiple feedings per day, unless the grow out tank is covered in algae they can constantly graze on.
Anyone who wrote a statement like "once every other day", should not have been writing profiles.
Below are swordtail fry growing out in a 40 gal tank, they normally get 5 small feedings per day, and have plenty of algae to graze on in between, and get a 40% (of the tanks water) changed every other day..
They usually go from new born size, and attain an inch in the first couple weeks.
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So my best bet would be to upgrade the tank size? I'm currently using my 10g to quarantine some sick black neons. I do have an empty 20g long but nowhere to put it. I used a cycled large sponge filter when I added the fish to the tank so there are nitrates, and from my last test there were no nitrites or ammonia.

Would I still be able to keep them in the 5g for a while until I get the 20g set up?
 
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I'm going to just move them to an extra 10g I have on hand so I can do less water changes. I may also add a few pygmy cories to clean the tank bottom since I don't have substrate at the moment
 
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