Latest acquisitions

[babygeige]

Since my platy had her babies behind my back, I decided to go get some more female platies today so that Platy Girl can have a rest from Platy Boy at some point. (I know, I'm super clever with the names )

I think that one of the ones I got is a Balloon Molly. The girl at the lfs didn't think it was because she said they usually don't come in orange and black, but it sure looks like one to me. I got it anyway because I thought it was cute.

I also got a little juvie platy. I think it'll end up a female. At least I hope so!

What do you think? Is that a Balloon Molly or a weird looking Platy on the left here?


Little Juvenile platy

[goldenpuon]

Nice pictures. I love the clarity and setup. Hope everything works out with the babies next time.

[eve]

nice shots

both are platies, i assume the left one is definitely a female which is pregnant

[murdock6701]

pretty good assumption Eve - I'd say 100% correct - red or orange wagtail I believe and the one on the right is a gold twin bar - yours have a lot more black than mine

[babygeige]

Here is a better angle to see the Platy/molly (Polly?)
The slope on her "forehead" made me think she looked like a balloon molly. I hope she is a pregnant platy though, that would be fun! But I do not see any sort of gravid spot.
Plus she is stubbier than the other platies.

[eve]

that's an absolute great picture
in fact she does have a gravid spot, just hardly noticeable, that's all

it's kinda look through, and definitely not black
if you zoom in, you see little black dots though

ctrl + mouse scroll <<< is zooming on a picture

[kagome]

I see what you're saying about her nose. Her whole top line seems different than that of the other platys.

Whatever she is she's super cute! I love that rich orange color. The baby one is a very nice color as well.

You did a great job with these pics!

[babygeige]

Well, someone had babies last night! Polly still looks like a balloon though, so I'm not sure what's going on. It's a mystery!
I've separated 1 fry for certain so far. I tried catching another one, but I'm not sure if it was the net when I put it in the breeder net or not. And I've spotted one more, but haven't been able to get at it yet.

[murdock6701]

good for you - get the mama you think is having them in the birthing box! go by fry color - congrats! keep us posted!

[babygeige]

The fry look to be the same color as the twin bar platy. (Groucho because she has a black mustache-ey thing). Would they already be showing the bright orange of the other one if she were the mom?

I know that I've got 2 in the breeder net for sure, but only 1 will swim around. I am hoping that the other one is ok and just hiding in the fake baby grass.

[eve]

yes, they would be a light orange

[babygeige]

I've got 1 yellow and 2 light orange!

[murdock6701]

bright orange platy is mist likely the mom - yellow might indicate male or female, or order of birth - last ones out sometimes don't start off w/ or end up w/ some of the coloration or distinct markings

[babygeige]

I think I'm up to 4 now. 2 of them managed to escape the net breeder. I actually think I kept scooping the same one up over and over again, and he'd just slip through the net breeder each time, lol.

I installed the divider to keep the adults away, so I'm thinking about just getting rid of the net and letting them roam around as the please. I've got fake baby grass as well as java moss for them to hang out in. The adults can't get to them, but the fry are able to scoot between the divider and the glass. 2 of the fry are good little goobies and haven't escaped the net, but I give up trying to keep the other 2 in the net.

Do you think I should just forget about the net? Am I making any sense?

[murdock6701]

hopefully mama is no longer in the box and back in the tank....babies shoud be free to roam about in the 6x6x6 net box just fine - you say they're escaping that back into the tank? must not be a fine enough mesh unless I'm totally confused?

[babygeige]

Yes, they were escaping out the net into the tank!! I lost them all.
Sorry, I know that was all super confusing. I had the babies in the breeder box/net in one half of the 5 gallon. I put a divider up as well to keep the adults in the other half. The babies got out of the net (there were like 2 little gaps in the mesh and they managed to find them!) and must have wandered between the plastic divider and tank glass and got eaten by the adults!!

And if that weren't bad enough, at least 1 of those new adults has either ick or velvet. I think ick. I've increased the temp and added some salt.

[murdock6701]

quick cure or maracide too - almost any ick med w/ salt and raised temp will help

[bikeguy33]

if it oodinium(velvet) you have to act quickly. get any inverts and scaless fish out of there and treat with copper. to the best of my knowledge, that is really the only tried and true cure...at least with excellent results. oodinium kills very very quickly so act fast. if you can`t get the inverts and scaless out....treat with 1/3- 1/2 dose. using copper it is very important to get a copper test kit otherwise you will have no idea how much copper there is. copper is deadly very quickly....so don`t use ANY more than what the container says....

[babygeige]

I've been doing a bit of research on Carl's sites and I think it is Ick. There were little white spots on one platy's tail and another platy had 2 little spots on its head. I added some metronidazole yesterday and bought some Quick Cure today and put it in. I think it is starting to work because the 2 spots on the one platy's head are gone. (knocks on wood)

Fortunately I have them in the 5 gallon QT tank, so there's no danger of other fish getting infected.

[bikeguy33]

that is good....ich is extremely easy to cure and much more responsive to meds....