Ok - I need help!

I just found 4 babies in my tank!
Amy saw them too!

I was able to catch 1 and put it in a separate tank - unheated, I hope it survives, but I can't find the others now. I hope the pictus catfish hasn't eaten them - he's swimming around like a lunatic! The male rainbow blue platy is bothering the female too - chasing her all over the tank. I don't know if these babies are from the other day - they look a little bit bigger than the first ones I saw, or if they are new ones from this couple.

I'll update if there's anything new...

Got a second one in the tank - it's not heated - I need advice???

I checked on line and it says to seperate the babies or mommy will eat them, but i dont know about the tank having to be heated or not though??

Good luck with them, Lynne!


--Mark--

Thanks Mark - right now that small tank is on the desk here under the halogen light. I also put a broken piece of pottery in there for them to have a place to hide.

Still can't find the other babies, and the mamma is still being harassed by the other fish...

Phew - just got another baby out - this one really liked to hide in the marbles. I'm pretty sure there is still one more...

I do hope they can live in this tank of water without a filter or pump... until they are big enough to go back into the bigger tank.

Oh I hope so too Lynne. Any chance of getting a very small tank just for the babies, like a 2.5 gallon kids room tank. You can keep it up and running just ofr when you have new lil ones and put it away the rest of the time? I have seen them at WM for under $20.

The tank not having a heater is not an issue...the aerration is another story probably....I think they will be OK for a week or so and that is all you will really need to let them grow to make sure they are not eaten. If you have any silk or real plants for the tank, that will be great "cover" for them.

The males chase her to try to find the babies....guppies do it too. Because they are live-bearers- she could have over 30 babies I had a guppy that had 32 once. They have so many because they "know" that some will not make it.

Just took a few pictures of the babies - again, they are so much smaller than they appear in the pictures.

They still look pretty small Lynne.

Cool pics, Lynne!! I can never seem to get any of my babies....

I just remembered that my neighbor has a small pond with no aeration and no heat that she has kept guppies in for several years now- the babies should be fine if you can get some plants in there to help with oxygen exchange.

Thanks Tonya!

No problem......Let us know how it goes!

Sad to say they were all dead this morning.

I will be going to PetSmart today before ACMoore, as they are in the same strip shopping center, and hopefully getting a breeders net. The mamma still looks pregnant, so hopefully I'll be able to catch her before she has the next babies.

Sorry about the babies, Lynne!

I'm sorry Lynne....I just saw this topic, and I'm so sad they didn't make it.

Sorry to hear this Lynne!!

Oh darn Lynne. Sorry that you lost them.

Thanks all

I bought a breeders net today, and put the mamma in it as soon as I got home. It's now 6 hours later, and she just passed 4 dead babies. This poor fish is having such a hard time of things - I feel so badly for her.

I think I'll keep her in the net overnight, and if there aren't any live babies tomorrow morning, I'll remove it.

Oh dear Lynne, the poor fish. I sure hope she is ok.

so what ended up happening???

My pltys had babie and I didnt know until i saw little 'Nemo' hiding among the plants.
platy ite
livebearer info site
hope those help

Thanks for the links, Wrennie!

Nothing has happened since I last wrote.
The poor mamma has been very pregnant since, and looks like she's about to explode at any given moment! I can definitely see the black areas where they say you can see the babies' eyes, but they're not coming out yet...

stay tuned...

How exciting Lynne!!

waiting for the news:-)

Any update...more babies???

OK - so exactly HOW BIG does this mama fish need to get before she lets go of those babies??? She's soooo puffy, I feel so badly for her!



Here she is with 2 of the 3 other fish in the tank - the male rainbow blue platy, and a dalmation fish.



Close-up of the dalmation fish - I had to have one, since I had a dalmation puppy when I was a toddler!

She looks like she is going to explode soon!

Dianna

Wow, that is so weird?

"PUSH -2 -3 -4 -5...."

(Thought it was worth a try)

HOO * HOO * HEEEEEEEE, HOO * HOO * HEEEEEEEE

Ok you 2 - get a grip!!!

So she has live babies instead of laying eggs?

Cool...not many fish are live bearers......my mosquito fish are and I think it's so cool!

Woah, she is way preggers. Hope she has those lil fishies soon. Are you all ready for them?

Yep - live babies loz!
She's had 2 small batches of frys so far, but none survived. Then, after I got the breeders net, she had 4 dead ones in there, and within an hour ate them all!

As soon as I see any babies next time, they will go in the breeders net without mama!

I sure hope you can save some Lynne!!!

Lynne you can do several things... you can get a separate tank.. Put the mama in a "trap" so to speak with wholes large enough for the fry to escape..
You could also get some of that tallish plastic grass that goes on the bottom.. it is large enough for the fry but not larger fish.. you also need to get "fry Food" those little guys can't eat regular food!
Air is a big problem! Make sure they have it! Good luck!!

Thanks Rita - the reason I got the breeders net, is that I already have a total of 5 tanks in the house, and while most of them are not huge, I really don't have any more space for another, and don't want to have to buy another heater, filter, etc. I'm just hoping to be able to catch the babies as she has them, and separate them into the breeders net in the same tank. It's just sad to see her so enormous for so long.

I soooo hope some of them make it Lynne! I'm gonna keep checking up on here to see what happens.

I had swordtail babies once. Scooped them up and was putting them in another container. Set them on top of the aquarium for a sec, and what did I do? Knocked them off to the brown rug below. All I could do was wait for the spot to dry and vaccum them up. Oh well. They are pretty fertile. Guppies, swordtails, platys, they're almost like bunnies.

soooooooooo, the rainbow platy is STILL pregnant - weird!

But now I'm wondering if this dalmation molly is pregnant also?
It was hard to get a good picture - sorry...

Wow, could be a mom all over again! And I can't believe your other fish is still holding all those babies in! Let 'em out, just let 'em out!

Lynne, what kind of fish do you have in those other tanks? Aren't they compatible, so you can put them together... freeing up a tank for "babies only"?

Patty - I have the one ten gallon in here, and Amy's ten gallon is full to capacity.

The 39 gallon is also full - that big Goldie of Margaret's is so humungous!!!

The 2 smaller tanks each have 3 medium sized goldfish in them - can't combine them either...

Don't need yet another tank either... :rolleyes:

It doesn't sound like you need another tank Lynne! Just think when your big pond is done you can put some goldfish in there right?

Yep!!! They are all going out there once it's up and running well!

Mine too, and I won't miss them too bad! I mean I will, but not the constant cleaning.