Saturday, January 12, 2008

We're so Proud....


The long anticipated birth of small fry from our pregnant Orange Platy has occurred. That's the happy Mama in the left of the photo. I've learned that Platys can have multiple births as the result of one encounter with the male. Apparently the female stores the sperm and can reproduce every 35 days or so for up to six months, so we'll have to keep an eye on her. They are fascinating.

Unfortunately, she had them last night when we weren't home, so Little Grim missed the miracle of birth. We had segregated the fish from the rest of the tank a week or so ago because we weren't sure when they would be born. I wanted to make sure we could keep at least a few, so they will stay in the separate breeding box until they are large enough to avoid being eaten. Now Little Grim can watch them grow.

We ended up with a tank after my daughter's wedding in November. She used live fish in bowls as her table centerpieces so we brought a bunch home with us. It's just a 10-gallon tank, for now. We would both like to get a larger one, but space is kind of an issue right now. But if our population increases too greatly, we'll have to upgrade.

7 comments:

USA_Admiral said...

This is great. My daughter loves watching all the fish in our aquariums. Fish keeping and photography are about my only hobbies now. Platys and Guppies are called million fish because the breed like crazy. Good luck with the fish.

Sezme said...

Neat!

I once interviewed for a clerical position at Bloomberg (yes, that Bloomberg). He loves aquariums. I remember the ends of the filing systems they had (huge) had aquariums. It was a really nice atmosphere.

Good luck with the growing population. :)

IHeartQuilting said...

Admiral - you sound like an expert, I may tap you for advice if we decide to expand.

RT - Aquariums are so relaxing to watch. I've seen a lot in resturants and medical offices.

Constance said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Constance said...

Fish tanks/watching fish grow and swim, etc. is fascinating....

Aprilwine said...

Beautiful aquarium! We used to have a 50 gallon before a huge earthquake in 1987. LOL

Congrats on the new arrival!

IHeartQuilting said...

LA- it's true.

April - Thanks, Little Grim is already telling me to keep the noise down, etc, so the baby fish can sleep.

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