Platy Pregnancy Advice - Gestation Period?

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red_wagtail1

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Hi guys, i'm new to this whole fish thing but i absolutely love it, i'm pretty much constantly glued to my aquarium, anyway, i have a red wagtail male platy, and a sunset male platy, two blue female platys and two black tuxedo female platys, anyway to cut a long story short i have seen one of my red wagtail platy engaging what i can only take to be mating with one of my blue female platys; i'm not at all adverse to babies however i feel totally out of my depth about a few things:

1). what colour will they come out as?
2) how many will there be?
3) how long are the female fish actually pregnant for
4) will the other female platys pose any threat to the new babies?

I've read the current threads about new fish babies and i'm preparing, i already have two tanks, my quarantine tank is about to double as a nursery, but please if you've got any answers, please let me know, cheers guys x x x
 
Hi welcome to the forums.

1) Not sure, since the parents are red and blue they babies could vary.
2) 30-40 I think. But If you leave them in your main tank some may get eaten. (Don't worry, this is normal)
3) about 28-32 days
4) Your females may, but its more likely that the males will. (Its a 'They're not my kids so I'll eat them' kind of attitude)

If you're not bothering with a separate tank, if you have plenty of plant cover, the majority of the babies should survive.

I hope this helps!
 
^ Spot on. Time from mating to delivery of fry is around 1 month. Livebearers can store sperm inside their bodies for a very long time, up to 8 pregnancies from one mating. It's possible that your male may not be the father of all the fry, and also that she may have mated previously and give birth sooner than a month from when you actually saw her mating as she may already be pregnant.

'30-40 fry are normal. Up to 4 days before she drops fry, you will see her hiding in the plants. She may become aggressive and try to keep other fish away. The males will harass her when she is giving birth because they want to eat the fry which may not be hers to eliminate the competitor's offspring. The females will be grateful of the free meal. If you want fry to live, plant the tank heavily or better still remove them to a separate tank.

The fry will eat whatever the adults eat provided the particles are small enough to fit in their mouths, they aren't big at birth. Also, they may be pastels of whatever colour they will grow up to be. I have had tuxedo fry born white, red fry born pink, wagtail fry born solid colours, and dalmatian fry born spotless. Then again other strains are born fully coloured.

The final colour is difficult to judge. As far as I know, blue and red wag are fairly common and dominant strains, so you'll probably get a mix.
 
How long can the female be kept in a breeding box

It's best not to use breeding boxes at all.

They're too small for the mother to feel comfortable, and they're too small to raise fry properly.

If you want some fry to survive, add lots of hiding places to the main tank; fine leaved live plants are best.

If you want to start raising whole litters, then you'll need a separate tank, with a heater and a cycled filter to put the mother in, then remove her once the fry are born.
 
Thanks for the reply but can I put her alone in a 5 gallon tank for a while
 
Yes, as long as it has a heater, a cycled filter and some kind of decoration or plants so the mother feels safe (fish that don't feel safe can 'hold on' to their fry, which is bad for both the mother and the fry).
 
The 5 gallon tank has a heater a sponge filter and an airstone with a silent air pump and quite a few plants
 
The 5 gallon tank has a heater a sponge filter and an airstone with a silent air pump and quite a few plants

That sounds great. Just remember to keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite, if the tank isn't cycled :)
 

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