My platy fries die immediately

[nkthen]

This morning I checked and realised that in my breeding box my platies had spawned some fries.

However, they are all dead.

The breeding box is submerged into my main aquarium so there's not need for a maintainance of water.

Any idea why they die?

[Quixotic]

I don't like using those breeding boxes at all. The fishes will get stressed easily.

Sometimes, they give birth to the fries immaturely. So the fries may be under-developed and would succumb eventually. This may be happening to your fish.

BTW, platies are not characins.

[Justikanz]

1) Breeding boxes are stressful to the female, especially if the box is small or she was chased and caught to be placed in it near term, causing her to have a miscarriage or give birth prematurely.

2) The breeding box is at the tank bottom? If so, the fries would not survive. I think they need atmospheric air to fill their swim bladders early after birth...

[diki]

Just curious, does it matter if the breeder box is placed near the surface of the water level in the tank? I was recommending this method to my mother-in-law to breed her newly bought guppies.

[Justikanz]

It is important that the fries fill their swim bladder after being born. Else, even if they don't die, they will develop swim bladder problems later. They fill the swim bladder with atmospheric air... And lifebearers feed from the surface, so why place the breeding box on the tank bottom?

[diki]

Thanks Justikanz. This is something new to me. My idea is to put the breeder box near the surface of the water in the tank. Don't know what is the reason for nkthen to put his submerged. Maybe a lesson learned. Thanks for your reply.

[Justikanz]

Just somewhere I remembered reading somewhere... Perhaps someone can confirm this...

[nkthen]

OK, PC was down for a few days and now it's back, and I'm back.

Well, I realised that my female fish is dying anyway, so she 'let go' of her fry and then died an hour later.

I have a new Platy and just an hour ago, she laid 4-6 fries! From what I saw, 2-3 of them are swimming to the top, 1 turned upside down and one isn't moving at the bottom of the breeder box.

I dropped a couple of Liquidfry 2 and hope that it can help.

I'm going to get a bigger breeder box now, with slots at the side so that the water can run in and our easily. The breeder box looks dirty, I don't know why.

And yes, my breeder box is at the top of the tank.