Blue And Orange Blue Platys?

[nanotankcommander]

Hi there, just joined

Please take a look at these pics and tell me if this is indeed a Blue Platy with orange bits lol or something else?

The females look pregnant to me but I've never seen any fry. I've separated a male and female in my 5L Nano tank. Is this okay, should I remove the male and will she be okay by herself?

Any other recommendations you have would be great, I am a beginner lol and sorry for the poor image quality.
Thanks, Jenna

 

[Kelly-Jo]

Those are definately platys and are those two in the 5L temporarily to encourage breeding or long-term?

 

[Jenste]

I pray not long term - - no fish is suitable for a 5L long term ... Those are gimmick tanks that are ok for shrimp and nothing else unfortunately.

If you are trying to encourage them to breed you do not have to put them into such a small tank - you only have to let them live together - - males will never pass up on mating with a female.


and the top platy is a Mickey Mouse platy.

 

[nanotankcommander]

No they are not in there long term. Just wanted to see if I could get some fry as I've never had them in the big tank. Don't know if they're getting eaten or what.

Did you mean the orange and blue one is a Mickey Mouse? Could you explain lol like I said i'm new to this, thanks

 

[Jenste]

Try having LOTS - - and I mean LOTS AND LOTS and obnoxiously LOTS amounts of fake plants in the tank (big tank, not the 5L). Live plants work well too - - Water wisteria grows like crazy and if left floating and planted, it makes a great hiding place for new fry.
Live bearers will often (as in most of the time) eat their own young. Males will stay REALLY close to a female near birth so they can eat another males young (they have no memory of who got her pregnant) and to be the first to mate with her after she gives birth to make sure his genes get passed on.

Having LOTS (and lots and lots) of hiding areas gives the babies a change to escape until you can see them and get them out. A great tool I have used to catch fry is the turkey baster. Hold it in your hands with the bulb tightly squeeze, zero in on a fry and release the bulb...and WOOSH - baby fish gets sucked up into the turkey baster and you can transport the baby, in water, to its new tank with out adults.



As for "Mickey Mouse", tilt your head to the side and notice how the pattern on the base of their tails looks like, well Mickey's silhouette. From breeding, it comes in various hues and intensities, but just type in "Mickey Mouse Platy" into google images and see the results. They are quite cute.

 

[tmh0921]

Those are indeed blue platties, too much inbreeding or breeding with other color platties causes that color mix. The more inbreeding or interbreeding the more washed out their blue color becomes. They can become almost washed out brown from what I've read.

 

[nanotankcommander]

I've just noticed I have 2 babies in my nano tank lol the one I put the male and female in for a day or so. I squealed like a little girl when I saw them! Been feeding them crushed flake food and they only share the tank with one Red Cherry Shrimp at the mo. Anything special I should be doing like turning the filter off (don't want them to be sucked up) etc?

 

[tmh0921]

If your filter isn't bothering the cherry shrimp it's probably fine for platy fry. To be safe you could put a sponge prefilter or nylon/pantyhose over the intake. Otherwise platy fry are low maintenance and pretty hardy.