Little fish big fish . . .

[Terrie Lee]

I have a large bunch of livebearer fry. I thought they were all swordtails until some of them started showing their true "spots". It seems that there are a few spotted platy fry mixed in with them. All of the fry are roughly the same age yet some of them are drastically larger than the others.

I have heard that betta fry release a hormone that inhibits the growth of smaller fry. Do all fish do this? Should I be making daily water changes?

Or is it that everything is okay and I am just a worry-wart?

Another question, could I put shell dwellers in with 6 week old live bearer fry?

Edited April 14, 2007 by Terrie Lee

[Shayesmommy]

depeding on the size.

I had guppies in my shell dweller tank. And the only time they went to the top was when the guppies had babys and the shellies had very full tummys.

I have some fry the same age too and if they were still in the tank. I would think they would eat them also.

[Qattarra]

I would not worry about the hormone thing. What size rearing tank are they in? Personal experience, I start them in a 5 and move them to a 10 after a month and then a 20 after another month. They can be slow to grow at first, but they will have bursts of growth. I do the same weekly water change as with the big tank. Babies are fun to watch , I do it every day Sue

[arixonbarnes]

There will always be difference in sizes from a batch of fry. I've had some swordtail fry that, within a week or so, were absolutely huge compared to the rest of their brothers and sisters and they usually mature more quickly.

[Terrie Lee]

Would shellies be okay in a community tank then? Other than eating the fry when one of my livebearers drops a batch? I have been reading up on shellies and are downright enchanted with them. I gotta have some.

[Shayesmommy]

They are awsome fish. I LOVE them.

They dont seem to be to aggressive to the actual adult guppys or tetras. And i was told it keeps them from hiding in there shells.

But those are the only other fish i've kept with them for a short period of time.

[Tanker]

I have housed the odd N. ocellatus in my tropical planted tanks, without much incident. Actually kept Endlers in my shellie tank for a while, too during a transition for a few weeks... no harm there. Sure... things get eaten - but that's why I kept Endlers and swords... 'food'.

But put a N. ocellatus into my mixed cichlids tank and look OUT. Had this happen today as I was moving my plecos around and one got scooped by accident. There is a new boss in town and they certainly run the show. Lithobates duck under rocks, Labs run for cover and even the plecos get the heck out of whatever corner the stray shellie fell into.

I keep my shellies in a species-only tank (except the bi-monthly visit from Mr. Common Pleco). Worst part of a shellie is the babies... mine always run to the shell when they see a net/mom sounds an alarm. Fine, except then you've got 100+ little 'specks of sand with tails' shoved inside a shell with 'sand without tails' and it all looks the same. Waiting for them to grow a little is even worse, as a scared shellie with no shell buries into the sand to hide from your net... so I had 300+ 1/4" fish in 50 pounds of fine sand the last time.

My solution? Tear down the tank, literally - scoop out the sand with a course mesh net (the cheap green ones) and the sand sifts through the netting leaving the fish behind. Repeat about a zillion times until every grain of sand in the tank has passed through your net and presto! Hundreds of very confused fry that then lived in a bare-bottom tank until they were sold

The point in this... ya.. get yourself some, but try to give them their own tank. They attack everything that invades their territories including nets, pincers, scrapers, brushes (one took a literal chunk out of a scotchbrite pad I was using to clean the glass) and I have had my skin broken from a bite from a male. One and a half inches long, but you can still see the teeth! Although mixing them can be entertaining... watching a juvie at a half inch take chase to a 4" Ps. acei and take it's cave away from it is SO worth it.

BTW: I will have some Neo. ocellatus in the ACE auction... maybe all of mine. Might take the tank in a new direction.