# Spontaneous Generation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 1999, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306 "1999-08-30T06:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![steno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@steno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steno)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 1999, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/1 "1999-08-30T06:03:00Z")
Well, now. All the fish in my ex-girlfriend’s aquarium died within a couple of days of each other… some disease, I figured. There were a couple of platys, some tetras, and a pleco. Fine, a dead tank, I thought. I’ll get around to re-starting it eventually. Well, being lazy, I didn’t even remove the little dead bodies, nor did I turn off the heater or the oxygen. So here’s the weird thing: this is about two weeks later, and I look, and there are a bunch of little fish in there. Maybe 1 cm long, maybe less, mostly transparent, but definitely ray-finned, true fish. So I gave them some flake. Where did they come from? * * * ---
**Author:** ![E1skeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3da27b/32.png) [@E1skeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E1skeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 1999, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/2 "1999-08-30T06:24:00Z")
Most probably from the ones that died, don’t you think? I don’t know a thing about fish varieties, so let me ask you something: are the new ones of the same variety as the old ones? * * * Men will cease to commit atrocities only when they cease to believe absurdities. -Voltaire ---
**Author:** ![AuraSeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 1999, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/3 "1999-08-30T06:51:00Z")
The fish probably laid eggs before they died. Since fish eggs don’t need to be incubated, they didn’t care that their parents had kicked the bucket; the fry just went along and hatched anyway. * * * I’m not a warlock. I’m a witch with a Y chromosome. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 1999, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/4 "1999-08-30T16:41:00Z")
And they were probably better off – 'cus if the bigger fish had been alive, they’d have eaten the babies. ---
**Author:** ![steno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@steno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steno)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 1999, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/5 "1999-08-30T16:59:00Z")
But two weeks later? How long do little fish incubate? Not that I’m really disputing it… that must have been the answer. However, the second begged question: I’ve had most of the fish that were in there for about 3 years. Have they been having babies all this time, that were subsequently eaten? Hmmm… when I phrase the question that way, it sort of answers itself, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 1999, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/6 "1999-08-31T02:28:00Z")
It wasn’t the Platys since they give birth to live fish and don’t lay eggs to hatch. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 1999, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/7 "1999-08-31T13:51:00Z")
Steno, yes, they may have been having babies, which were then eaten, all this time. Or the fish may have skipped a step and just eaten the eggs. (Mmmmm, caviar.) My parents have guppies, which are live-bearers. It has often happened that one day they’d see a very pregnant female, and the next she’s no longer pregnant, but no little fishies. Instead, they became late-night snacks… Once in a while a couple would survive, but not often. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 1999, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-generation/7306/8 "1999-08-31T15:11:00Z")
Baby fish are really tiny. Almost invisible. I have raised some, and they are incredibly small and hard to see at first, but then they get bigger. They probably ate algae and plants for a week or two. Congratulations on your fish!