I bought some platys and a dalmation molly from Petsmart this summer. None of them made it very long (they all got sort of fuzzy-covered. Tried isolating into individual tubs but I lost all of them in a matter of 36 hours).

I left the tank running, a bit annoyed at myself for killing off half-a dozen fish in under two days. About a week later I noticed a sprinkling of orange and white hiding amongst the (plastic) plants.

Yep - FRY!!

I've had fry before but always just left them in the adult tank. Saving the fry meant buying them a new tank, and what happens when I get a new batch? It sounded like a mess so I let the parents eat them and the smart/quick ones who hid well suvived.

Now I've got a tank full of fry (all of my fish were female and I'm guessing pregnant since each was sort of fat-looking and had a dark spot around the anal fin area). They were born in August. Over the months, I've moved once and switched them into a different tank. My cat drinks the water out of their bowl and the little idiots swim up to the surface and get swallowed along with the water.

I only have about 8 orange-colored babies left and no white ones.

They don't seem to be growing very quickly. I sort of thought they'd be full-grown by six months and I don't think that's going to happen. They get fed fry food (it's a powder made specifically for fry, I forget the brand but I got it from Petsmart) several times a day.

How long will it take for them to reach their adult size?

the platies do look healthy...this link to another thread in this forum may help u:The Perfect Livebearer?

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I'm so sorry I haven't been on the forum in so long! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this lovely website! I moved to a different county back in May 2011 and started high school in a totally different school district. So I'm still adjusting and studying hard, and don't presently have any aquariums. But once I do, I'll be right back on this forum!

you could just switch to crushed flake food for molly fry. Save yourself some money. I can't help but notice you have them in a traditional fish bowl. Do that thing have a filter and a heater in it. I can see that gill appear to be brite red, Is that true.Water quality is a big factor on how fash fish grow,

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Gold Coast Aquarium Society South Florida
www.goldcoastaquarium.org

water changes are the solution to your problem, but keep in mind that platy fry are somewhat slow growers compared to guppies. good luck!

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~Daniel

the grass was greener on the other side, but when your a fish.... not good.....
Spanish words of the day!

1. HERPES - Me and my fren ordered pizza. I got mine piece and she got herpes.
2. WHEELCHAIR - We only have one enchalada left, but don't worry, wheelchair.
3. BRIEF - Maria fart in my car and it stinkie so bad I could not brief.

(this is just a joke, no offense intended! enjoy)

Veryy nice. Unfortunately platies along with swordtails are probably the slowest growing livebearers. Just feed them well and they should live just fine. It could take as little as two months to go with the adults. They adult size after about 6 months in my opinion.

I do not have the water heated. My previous attempts at heaters always turned into fish soup (I suppose this is where everyone suggests a good brand for the 20G? I doubt I'll heat the bowl as I will someday move my betta into the bowl and the platies into the big 20G tank.)

Six months sounds about right to me too.