sunburst platy fry

Question
QUESTION: I bought a sunburst platy two weeks ago from a local pet store along with 2 guppies and a black loches.  The loches died a week later and I replaced it with another one.  Two days later we noticed baby platy fish in the tank.  Apparently the fish was pregnant when we got her and not just a "fat fish".  On Friday (the day we noticed them) we caught 10 fish (and put them in a breeder tank) and last night (Monday) we found two more.  Do you think we have them all or is this platy going to keep having babies?  I don't want them to get eaten by the guppies but I'm not sure exactly what to do.  This is our first tank and I'm clueless about fish and breeding.  Any help would be great.

ANSWER: Jan,          Since you only got one platy you are ok. She will not have anymore babies without a male in there. They can sex them or should be able. This is how to sex them . They have an anal fin their furthest fin on the bottom...  the female it is like open and a v shape .... your male has a straight fin. It is like this for a platy's and mollies. This is a new tank and they shouldn't have sold you loaches yet. You are going to go thru new tank syndrome. While you tank is going through the nitrogen cycle it is most toxic at the bottom of the tank while your bacteria layer is growing..... you will prob lose the one you have now. Wait  at least  3 weeks for your bottom feeders like your corys and loaches.Just grind your fish food to dust they will eat it fine. Good Luck,Tina

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QUESTION: Tina,
The timing of your answer was perfect.  I noticed the tank was a little cloudy this morning so I checked the levels thinking there was too much ammonia in the water and it turned out there was too much nitrite.  It was at 3.0 or "stress" level.  What should I do?  Should I do a partial water change and will the fish be okay?  Or will this only effect the loach?
Thanks again for your quick response.  Your help is greatly appreciated.
Jan

ANSWER: Jan,          I would really like to know the size of your tank and if you have well or city water. Try not to add chemicals right now it hinders your cycling down. If it goes over stress level do a 10% water change no more. The cloud is a bloom of bacteria ... essential for your tank. It will settle into your rocks and begin eating the liquid wastes from your fish. You will siphon once a month to get rid of the solids from your rocks.You should not be growing algae already. If you have city water sometimes all the phosphates they use to soften it causes this. The only way to get rid of them since they are a mineral is reverse osmosis. Which sounds very technical, but all it means is you have to take some of your water out and replace it from a different source like bottled water.No More Chemicals it slows the normal process happening in your tank.Just relax and wait it out.  Good Luck, Tina

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QUESTION: I have a 10 gallon tank and yes, it's city water.  We get our water from Lake Michigan but we do put AquaSafe into the water before transfering it into the tank.  Should we get an algae eating fish yet or hold off for awhile?


Answer
Jan,          They put tons of chemicals in city water to soften it. Like I said to slow the algae growth you need to take some water out and replace it from another source like bottled water. You should wait at least 3 weeks. Good Luck, Tina