sunburst platy babbies

Question
QUESTION: Hello, my daughter and i wanted some fish so we thought we could go to petsmart. At first we were planning on a simple goldfish, but then we saw some sunburst platy and she just had to get some, so we did. A day later we notice that one of the fish is dead with a dark spot on the side. We get rid of the dead fish and then my daughter yells with joy and says that she sees a two baby fish in the water. Now that you have heard this story here are my questions.
     1. Was the dead fish the fish that gave birth?
     2. What do i do with baby sunburst platy that i can
        barely see?
     3. What do i feed them?
     4. will they survive on their own?
     5. do i go back to the pet store and tell them or do
        you think will charge me more?
While I'm at it can you tell me what it means when a fish eats then spits out the food?  


ANSWER: platy's are livebearers and when they are pregnant they do not transport well. They often will expel young right before they die. I would boil and egg and take the egg yolk and make a past with water and put the tiniest amount on the tip of a spoon and then swirl it into the water. The babies will eat the egg yolk.  You will need to get them some baby brine shrimp when they are about a week old.  There is no need to go back to the pet-store with this... just enjoy your baby fish.  When fish eat and spit out their food it means they don't like it.  They want something different. Brine shrimp and tubiflex worms are good treats for fish and buy a quality flake food such as tetra fin, etc.   dave

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QUESTION: i give them tetramin tropical flakes and they don't like it do i still change it.

ANSWER: you can try a different brand... but eventually they will eat it

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The babies have been eating the food like if they were pigs in disguise. But the big fish kept spitting out the food and died.

Answer
Some fish are spoiled they are only give one type of food... and they can not adjust to other kinds of food.  This is a good example of why it is important to offer your fish a varied diet.  When we get fish "trade ins" at the aquarium where we work it is sometimes very difficult to get these new fish to eat because they do not recognize flake food, etc.  They are waiting for whatever their owners use to feed them.  dave