platies and cories....

[katrina89]

Hey guys,
So I just upgraded to a ten gallon... so now I have in my tank
1 male betta
4 juli cories
1 albino cories and
3 platies


just a couple questions... one of my juli cories I got has some torn up fins and rosie cheeks... He is swimming around alot ... but he looks horrible.. will his fins grow back? anything I can do for him? he came from petco like that :/
also if my platies are preggers is there anything I need to do for them so they dont get sick bec of birth?
and how many shrimp pellets should i feed to the cories... ive been giving them 4 total a day... 2 in the morning and 2 at night... is that enough?

[lakemalawifish]

Once we bought 4 Panda Cories and one of them had torn fins. I really did not want to treat the tank with medications because I knew we had one prego Platy and I didn't know if it would hurt the mommy fish or not. The little Panda's fins healed pretty quick and were completely fine within a couple of weeks. If your fish are getting along, and nobody is being picked on, just keep doing your water changes and the fresh water and clean tank will help him heal. I know you are watching him like a hawk so if something changes in his behavior, etc. you may have to get some medication. Also, keep a check on your cories bar bells at their mouth because sometimes they can get irritated. Cories need the sand or rock substrate in the bottom of the tank to be clean because they are always looking around for food down there. It is really best to have sand or soft rocks on the bottom that are smooth, instead of the sharp rough kind of rocks. But, if you have the sharp rough rocks on the bottom, just keep them clean and try to get something else when you can. Are the cories sharing the shrimp pellets? If they are that may be enough because usually cories will hunt around and find flakes and other food that the other fish miss. If the cories seem to be not wanting to share or kind of fighting over the shrimp pellets you can add 1 or 2 more. If you notice any food laying around on the bottom of the tank, then you are feeding them too much so cut back just a bit. Cories are great little tank cleaner uppers and they are so cute!

Also, with your Platies, being prego is very normal for them and there is really nothing you need to do special but if they are going to have babies you will need a breeder box for when they have their babies to keep them from being eaten. A breeder box that will keep mommy fish on the top part and let the baby fry go into the bottom section is best because mommy and other fish in the tank will eat the babies. Please update this if anything changes and let us know how they are doing!

[katrina89]

Thanks so much for your speedy reply... I've been watching the cories like a hawk lol I love those little guys and they get along great.. they share all their food. I have sand and some big smooth rocks in the corner.. they search the sand and sleep on the smooth rocks. When I first got my cories I had big smooth gravel... and I noticed my albino was depressed just laying around never swimming except to get food. So I quickly switching to sand and he has perked up ever since ... Plus, I love love love how sand looks. Thanks for the info on the platy babies..

I was also wondering if you had any trouble feeding your betta with the platies.. they gobble it all up before he gets interested... hes honestly a picky eater and I havent found a food yet that he will eagerly eat.. I have hikari pellets, tropical flakes, frozen blood worms(hikari)which he will actually eat... but slowly... and some tetra pellet... I dont want him to starve... and he doesnt look too skinny but he also doesnt look as beefy as when I got him from the store... hes a giant if that makes any difference... thanks for all your help!

[vivienb]

You are welcome :) we did not have a Betta in with our fish so not sure about the feeding situation. But I have dealt with slow eaters and fast eaters in the same tank and trying to relate here. If I were you I would try feeding the fast eaters their food first and while they are busy eating, and you notice the Betta starting to stir around to find food, feed Betta with a turkey baster, just hold it right near where Betta is, not down in the water that will probably scare him away, and slowly drop his food in as he eats. Hopefully the other fish will still be busy eating theirs.

[vivienb]

Also, with your potential prego Platies, they are not happy being in a breeder box for very long so it's hard to know when to put them in there. Look up on the internet their "gravid spot" and watch for that. If you have any idea when the pregnancy occurred, it usually takes about a month before they have babies. Since I was not sure when our Platies got prego and did not want to stress them out in the breeder box for an extended period of time, I just waited until I saw the first baby and then gently netted mommy into the breeder box. Guess I got lucky and caught it in time because sometimes they give birth at night. Otherwise, you can try to calculate the days and move mommy to birthing box when the time is close. Check to see what your male/female ratio is (real easy to tell sex with them, you can find pics on the internet). With 3 Platies, if you have 2 males and 1 female for example, this poor female is going to be chased like crazy and the stress of birth is hard enough on them, as much as they don't appreciate the breeder box... you probably would need to keep her in there for a few days or so and let her build back up her strength before allowing the boys to chase her.

[katrina89]

I have 3 females as I wanted to make sure the baby making would eventually stop and I didnt want any males causing problems with the betta...

GOOD NEWS My betta has eaten a bunch in the past few days... guess he just didnt feel like eating... he ate like 6 pellets this morning ( hes a giant)...

as for the platies I have no idea when the pregnancy occured because it was in the store.
on another note though... I have one blue platy... a red wag and a sunset mickey mouse.. My blue wag has gotten a bit aggressive lately... constantly chasing the other platies... I noticed giving her food chills her out for a bit... im just worried that its her personality and that its not gonna go away... maybe i just meed more plants...

[lakemalawifish]

Are you sure your Blue Wag is a female? Sounds like male breeding behavior. Glad your Betta is eating better :)

[ChoclateBetta]

No offense but that tank is overstocked.

[katrina89]

yea shes female... her bottom fin shows it and she also looks preggers... but she seems to have stopped being mean... we will see..

[katrina89]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

No offense but that tank is overstocked.

yea i know its a tiny bit overstocked by a fish or two... but my filter is for a twenty gallon and im good at my water changes .... soo its all good thanks for your concern :)