Breeding Question

[mnbyiuopre]

Hi, I was watching my Marigold Swordtails and I think one of the males mated with a female. They're kinda leaving each other alone now. Should I be watching the female? What are signs of her being pregnant?

Also, I have three Red Platys and one was pretty fat when I got it. (Bigger than the other 2). Do you think it could be pregnant? Sorry, don't have any pics.

 

[theotheragentm]

Fish that look like they are about to burst are the most sure-fire sign of pregnancy. It's more of a wide thing when you're talking size. The abdomen is swelled up quite a bit. The other signs can often times be more ambiguous than the "ready to explode" look.

Just because a male has mated with a female doesn't mean he is going to leave her alone. Male livebearers are ready to go around the clock in my experience. Signs that she is about to give birth are that she may retreat away from other tankmates and she may be more territorial wanting her own space, but by then she should be huge.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

Okay, thanks. I have another question now. For Red Platys to breed does the water have to be a certain Ph, Gh, temp., etc.? Right now the temp is 79 Degrees, 7.0 for ph and I don't know my gh or kh.

 

[afishdude]

Okay, thanks. I have another question now. For Red Platys to breed does the water have to be a certain Ph, Gh, temp., etc.? Right now the temp is 79 Degrees, 7.0 for ph and I don't know my gh or kh.

nope all that matters is that the temp is obove 78 degrees.
and i wouldnt advise keeping swordtails and platies in the same tank as they will inbread. and that could cause problims to the mom if they fry are abnormal. and chances the fry arnt going to survive( if they are platy-swordtail mix) and if you have all femals (platy+swordtails) and one male swordtail you will have the inbread almost always. but if ya get a male platy he might be able to fight off the swordtail to get the platys.
thats just my 2 cents in livebarers.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

I have Marigold Swordtails with my platys right now but they leave each other alone. One of my platys seemed to be pregnant but then slimmed down. I think she may have given birth over night and all of the fry were eaten.

 

[theotheragentm]

The temperature does not have to be above 78 degrees. Platies are actually well adapted to quite a wide range of water conditions. At higher temperatures, the females tend to give birth sooner. 78 is about as high as I would put the temperature though, unless you're trying to fight illness. I keep my water temperature at about 74 degrees. It gives you a lot of options for other tropical fish in the tank.

LiveAquaria is an online website where you can actually buy fish if you want. I've never bought from here, but I do some research here sometimes on fish I might want to get for myself.

 

[Tiger Tiger]

I have seperated all my live bearing females to another Tank. They seem so much at ease now.
Once the fry is born its going into a live trap until big enough to survive. The mother after birth will be put back in with the male.

Seems to be working so far.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

I can't afford a fry tank so I'm looking into good quality breeding traps/nets. On the Petco website I saw a couple of breeders, would anyone know if these are good or not? I think one was called the Super Breeder.

 

[theotheragentm]

Those breeding net incubators work great as far as keeping fry separate from adult fish, but you will be overrun with fry pretty quickly if you have liverbearers. If your main tank is large enough, I would try buying a screen separator. I used to try to save all the fry I could. When I realized I would be left with more fish than I could handle, I started letting nature take its course.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

My tank is about 20 gallons and there isn't really a place to put a screen separator. I'm mainly interested in keeping a couple, no more than five, fry alive. I'm probably going to use the net just to keep the fry safe. Hold on, let me post the link to a breeder and you can give suggestions.

Heres one breeding net. http/www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=7...ilyID=9217&

 

[mnbyiuopre]

Anyone?

 

[theotheragentm]

That's the one I have and it will work fine. I would recommend leaving the fry in the net a little longer than you think is long enough so they are big enough to let go, because you will be shocked how wide the adult fish can open their mouths. I wouldn't put more than five in the breeder though, as they will get cramped.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

Okay, glad someone has experience with that one! Hopefully my Petco will have it, if not I'll just order online.

My Male Platy has been acting a little weird recently. He seems to hide in the back and not swim constantly but kinda jet forward, stop, and go forward again. He also seems to stay at the bottom of the aquarium during feeding time, only eating the food that falls down. Do you think something is wrong?