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Post by fishfever on Aug 19, 2009 19:24:47 GMT -5
I have a female adult platy (the one who made a full recovery from Columnaris a while back) who has a voracious appetite and has grown quite a tire around her middle. I'm quite sure she isn't pregnant this time (she's had 4 pregnancies but it's now been well over 6 months since a male was around). Without moving her to another tank, I wonder if there's a strategy I can employ to limit her food intake. I've been watching her since her recovery and she's quite the pig, managing to round up every last crumb of food and getting more than her fair share. I guess I could use a stick to poke her away from the feeding area once she's had enough while the slower eaters finish dining but that's all I can think of. Other ideas?
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Post by Carl on Aug 19, 2009 21:57:53 GMT -5
The only thing I can think of is using a Breeder Net during feeding. Carl |
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Post by murdock6701 on Aug 19, 2009 22:22:44 GMT -5
platys are pigs! there is no denying that - how old is she? they do have a tendency to get fatter as they get older - by the way, not to get off subject here but the 180+ I put in the hot tub have a billion fry swimming w/ them now! good luck my friend
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Post by bikeguy33 on Aug 20, 2009 4:20:51 GMT -5
what about a makeshift tank divider at feeding time?
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Post by fishfever on Aug 20, 2009 17:10:46 GMT -5
Some good ideas here... I do have the breeder box Carl so that's certainly an option. I have found the breeder box to be a very useful thing to have around for many things other than breeding. I tried the stick thing this evening and it worked very well. Our tank is about 1 1/2 ft deep, so I took 2 wooden skewers taped together (with the dull end in the tank) to gently prod the platy away from the feeding area while feeding the tank. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on and all I had to do was hold the stick about an inch or 2 in front of her to keep her from going to the feeding side of the tank; it was almost like one of those invisible dog fences dividing the tank in 2! Once the food was more than half gone, I let her have at it. If I can keep this up one feeding per day (we usually feed twice a day) it should help her get back to her slimmer sleeker self! Actually she is already looking better today - yesterday was a frozen food treat day and she had stuffed herself with blood worms and brine shrimp so that's probably why she was bulging so much.
Murdock that has to be some sight with all those platies/platy fry swimming around! If you have time to take a pic(s) I'm sure we would all enjoy seeing it. We have had this fat platy for about a year and based on her offspring's growth rate, I'd say she was about 5-6 months old when we got her so probably 1.5 years old is my guess.
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Post by murdock6701 on Aug 20, 2009 18:39:59 GMT -5
I'd take pictures but the hot tub is blue acrylic and the sides turned totally green w/ algae, so the only time you can see the fish is at feeding time or after darl w/ a light directly over it.....wasn't meant to be a pond.......trying to scrub off all that algae would probably cause more stress than good and they seem to be thriving so I guess I'll leave well enough alone, unless someone knows a way to make the tub clean without harming the fish......
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