assimilating fry

Question
Hi, I have a 55-gallon freshwater tank and I've been raising some fry for the past few months in a net breeder. So far I have assorted mollies, platies, and new guppies who were born only about 3 weeks ago. The rest were free from the pet store, so we're not sure just yet of what kind they are.

A week ago, I decided to drop three of the largest fry into the tank. Although they got chased quite a bit for the first few minutes, they found a large plastic plant to hang out it. The larger one (about 2cm) is doing fine, he is taking bites out of the larger flakes I feed the fish, and seems to be okay swimming the length of the tank. The smaller ones (1.5 cm) are constantly hiding in the plant, except for when the lights go out. I see them picking at the plastic plant but I'm not sure if they're getting adequate nutrition. They seem scared to venture just outside of the plant to find food during feeding time. They've been outside of their net breeder for a few days now, and I'm wondering if this is normal, or if I should net them back into their netted box with the others. Any suggestions?

Answer
Dear Andrea,
Seems like the smaller ones sense that they are vulnerable and so they feel they should be hiding in the plants. It may be best to move them back into the net breeder until they put on more size. Or you can also just try keeping them in the main tank. Where they will just stay amongst the security of the plants until they put on more size in order to start venturing out more. Just make sure they are getting enough food. Make sure to place some food in their hiding plant whenever you feed the other fish.
Baby livebearers have an amazing ability to survive in main aquariums even amongst larger fish where they usually continue to grow and remain healthy, as long as they have good shelter and some access to food they almost always survive just fine.

I really hope this helps!
Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~