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Hello. My platy mom had babies yesterday morn. I know this because she was fat when we went to bed and skinny when we awoke. I did a vaccuum gravel, and that's when i spotted three platy fry!!! These are my first fish babies. I checked to make sure i hadn't siphoned any from the tank. Since that first spotting of three however, i have only seen one, and i only saw him once. Are they really good hiders or have they been eaten? My zebra danios look like they are on the hunt. The only other fish in the tank are their parents and a blue dwarf gourami who is sick. He's not even aware of their existence, im sure.

Anyway, here are my questions: how many fry does a platy bear in one birthing? Will these tiny guys survive water with meds in it? I added a jungle tank buddy tab for ich and a jungle tank buddy tab for fungus. You know the tabs that fizz. I'm treating my blue dwarf gourami for ich, fin rot, and columnaris. The other adult fish are fine and have no illnesses. The water readings are fine and the temp is 77. Will the meds hurt the babies?

Oh, and im worried that they will be victims of ich. The fry must be hiding in the gravel because i don't see them unless the gravel is stirred. Isn't this where the ich lives after it's fallen off the host?

Should i net the fry out and put them in my 2.5 gallon which is currently housing my applesnail? I'd rather not move them unless absolutely necessary. I don't want to stress them. Need your help quickly!!!
THANKS,
littletank

ps: i loooove my adult platies and really want at least one of their babies to grow to adulthood

dont worry about stressing them on the way to safety i net my fry out all the time, and i only loose them when they get stuck in the gravel or filter so go right ahead and net them out if u want to save them

*takes deep breathe*

Okay, I don't know how much I can help here, but I'll do my best.

First off...what size tank are all these guys in?

The fry, being tiny, are good hiders, and there was probably more, that got eaten by various tankmates. In order to survive they prolly need either a grow out tank, or a very densely planted community tank. Otherwise... Dinners ready.

Fry are very susceptible to disease, and although livebearers are pretty hardy, the babies still need good clean water.

That dwarf gourami should be moved to a hospital or QT tank immediately...even if you didn't have fry I'd say get him outta there. You don't want him infecting your other fish and/or plants. I know Jungle is a very reputable brand, but I don't know how strong it is.

You could try moving them with the apple snail if you want...but snails poo a lot and I'd be afraid the ammonia would be very high. I dunno if those little guys will make it. I think you're better off just letting nature take its course here, and try raising fry next month when you're more informed and have the proper set up for it. And when you don't have any sick tankmates.

HTH a bit...

-Ferret

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Thanks for your help. They are in a ten gallon with two platies (their folks), three zebra danios, and one blue dwarf gourami (the sick guy). The water readings are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 5. The water readings in my 2.5 gallon with the apple snail is the same. I guess i'll move them or maybe I should just move my sick blue gourami into the 2.5 until he's better, but still there's meds in the water of the 10 gallon so i couldn't put my apple snail back in for at least a week or so. I guess i'll just let nature take it's course. I just saw two little fry when i stirred the gravel with a net a litte. So, at least 2 are still alive!!
thanks again,
littletank

ps: there are no new ich spots forming on my gourami, but there are about 20 "salt grains" that just will NOT fall off. can i give him a salt bath to get them off? How do you give a salt bath, or is that only for REALLY big fish like Koi? I know i've read about salt baths.

Thanks angel eel. I'm pretty sure it's ich. There is nothing stringy about it. The other fish are still spot free. Right when Bahama showed sighns of ich one of my zebra danios got a few spots a day or two later. But they fell off after about three days. Bahama's spots just won't fall off. He's darting all over the place and is really grouchy. Poor guy. I'm concerned about his not eating. I really think that maybe the ich won't fall off until it has gotten enough nutrients from him and he has no nutrients to give since he hasn't eaten in about a week. This may sound crazy, but it's the only thing that can explain why the spots won't fall off. I am slowly raising the temp in hopes it will speed up their life cycle. Is it 80 or 82 that i should rais it to? I'll just pray the columnaris doesn't come back under the higher temps. Thanks for your help.
littletank
ps: the babies are sooo cute swimming around with confindence in the 2.5 gallom. i rescued 4. I noticed that 3 of them had REALLY big tummies tonight. They looked like pregnant platies in the form of fry. Weird? They did not look this way this morn. When i fed them tonight they really wen't after the flakes. Do you think that they just ate too much or could it be some sort of disease? Please let it be that they just ate too much!