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Hey I was just wondering if anyone knows if the big petstores (petsmart/petco) buy platy fry. I think one of my girls is pregnant and I don't really have room for more fish. 4 platies in a 10 gallon so not really enough room for babies unless I only get about 3 of them. So yeah, do they buy them and for how much? Those are really the only 2 petsores around me.

I don't wanna just let them get eaten either...thats not very nice.

Not likely. The ones here won't take any fish even free. I take any fish that are extra or I no longer have a place for to a locally owned fish store. Sometimes you have to hunt a bit to find the small stores like that. It's very unlikely you'll get paid for platy fry no matter what store you take them to. You'll be lucky if you find a place that just takes them. Most stores I know that will take them only do so to feed them to other fish. It's a problem I ran into with my guppies and the reason I was extremely careful to seperate males and females as soon as I could tell the difference. You can ask around but the best thing if you can't take care of the fry or find someone to take them is really just to leave the female in the tank with other fish and let them get eaten. It's better for them than overstocking your tanks or having to let them be used for feeders later.

... What Sham said.

Also, it's against company policy for either Petsmart or Petco to take in fish. There are online classified sites you can post your fish for sale on, or you can post 'em here and see if anyone in your area wants them.

(Edited because I can't spell.)

______________
Cake or death?

I guess I'll have to look a little farther to find a local owned store, the only one in my town went out of business a few years ago. I have all females in my tank so this should only be a problem for a little bit.

Also, it's against company policy for either Petsmart or Petco to take in fish.

Actually thats not entirely true.
They cannot buy or swap or trade fish for your fish.
They can take your fish for free though, with no
qualms whatsoever.

If you want to sell your fish, youre better off to go
through local aquarium clubs, a small local fish store,
or the newspaper.

I actually got rid of my livebearers because the amount of money I was making off them was less than what I was spending to feed them, and with not many stores willing to buy them until they are almost adult size, it was taking up too much space and too much risk of a tank crash due to severe overstocking problems.
I love livebearers but I just dont like the fact that
you cant get rid of them.


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Hm. My managers always told me it was against policy. I -really- wouldn't be surprised if they were lying, though. They weren't really big on helping customers any more than they had to.

______________
Cake or death?

Yes, its against policy to "buy" fish off customers.
There is nothing in store policy that prevents
customers from "giving" fish to the store.


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Petsmart told me they couldn't take my fish even if I just handed them over. However, I found a nice store in a neighboring town that will take them and pay me if they're big enough to sell. Anyone know how long it takes for the fish to become "sellable"? It probably depends on the store but I'm guessing it just means big enough not to be eaten.

Sellable usually means nearly adult size,
or at least 1/2 of adult size.



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how long does it take for them to get that big?

how fast they grow really depends on how clean
the water is and how much they are fed.
The cleaner the water and the more often the fry are
fed, the quicker they will grow.
They should probably reach sellable size in about 3-5 months time.


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