How to care for a Platy Fry?

[tekisui]

I brought home 3 Platy fish, two females and a male, yesterday. Last night, I saw the tiniest little orange speck with two black eyes. One of the Platys had given birth. I have since located two other babies, one was eaten.

How can I care for these? Should I move them to a separate bowl? What about feeding and temp? TIA!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. Move them to a seperate bowl or get a little hang on baby trap and put them in there

To feed them, either give them really finely crumbled flakes or you can get a really fine food for baby fish at most pet shops.

[tekisui]

2. I'm going to try the baby hanger.

They are so small they swim through the holes of the net I have now. I really hope I can save them. I know the Platys will have more, but I am excited about these first ones.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. Yeah, it sucks that platys eat their babies

When I had my big African Cichlid tank, my brichardi used to breed all the time. They make a cave, and defend their babies from other fish, eventually the bigger babies protect the smaller babies when they have new babies again. It's pretty cool.

They look like this:

[TreasonousBastard]

4. You might try crumbled harboiled egg yolk...

to feed them. And, yeah, if you don't remove the adults, the fry need lots of cover to escape their cannibal parents-- a fry trap will do.