Did My Sister Just Come Home With A Platy Or A Molly?

[Jenste]

My sister called me over because she recently bought a new fish, sold to her as a balloon molly and now can't tell if she was given a molly or a platy. (my sister is 9 and is in charge of her own tank and fish)
I can tell it is a female because when she spreads out her anal fin, it is a fan like shape...

that is the end of my molly/platy capabilities lol.

here are a few pictures I snagged with my phone...we moved the fish into a critter keeper to take the pictures because it was hard to get a decent one of her in the tank

 

[laurahobson]

I may be wrong as i am new to tropical fish keeping but it looks like a female swordtail? a pregnant one! but like i say i could be wrong, google female swordtail and compare pictures

 

[Hagrid66]

Hi,
I certainly not 100% sure but i'd say it's either a female swordtail (pregnant) as said above or a platy.
Thanks Hagrid66

 

[Jenste]

swordtail? I didn't even consider that as a possibility...
anyone else have any ideas?

 

[ian]

looks like a pregnant platy to me.

 

[OldMan47]

I'm afraid I am not certain about that fish. It does not look like a platy nor a molly. Both tend to have a stockier caudal peduncle, the part of the body where the tail is attached, than that fish. The shape of the top line of the head and body is indeed reminiscent of a swordtail. That fish is heavier than I usually see in a female swordtail though, even if she were about to drop fry. There may be something of the balloon tendency in the fish, but not a balloon molly.

 

[Paradise3]

Could it be a swordtail/platy cross?

Missy x.

 

[helterskelter]

It's defo well 99% sure a very poor looking molly.

The body is looking thin apart from the belly and the fin are clamped never a good sign.
They need lots of good water and preferably very hard or a salt mix to reduce stress levels.

 

[Jenste]

according to my sister, it was kept in a tank with balloon mollies, and mollies.....if a male mated with her in that tank...do you think she would produce fry? would the fry live?

doesn't she look pregnant now? especially in the second picture, if you look at her underside in the reflection...she looks maybe 2 weeks from delivering...
she is being housed in a tank with a couple ADF and a trio of female guppies with one male guppy

in the tank, her fins spread out like normal

as i said above, we scooped her out and put in in a critter keeper to take the clear pictures....

my sister is trying a method of no filter, and LOTS of live plants (primarily a solid 4 inches of floating water wisteria covering the whole top level of the tank), with weekly water changes...i was skeptical about her method...

but have been testing the water BEFORE she does her water change for the past 3 months, and her levels are perfect...so...what can i say? the kid was right haha

 

[BethK]

Now I can't remb if this is plats or mollies but one of them, can have fry up to 6 months after mating once with a male.

Have no clue about this fish, I'm sorry but either way, would it not be best to keep her/him as a pair, rather than on their own?

 

[CrystalClear16]

She looks identical to the platys I have.

 

[karigupi]

Looks like a Molly to me, she is looking thin & a bit stressed in the picture, so its not easy to tell. If she has been in a tank with males, then its likely she is pregnant.

If she does have fry & the tank is well planted, then you should have some survive

 

[Jenste]

my sister was trying to build up a tank of all girls (except for the one loan male guppy which was her first fish)....she if very careful about buying fish....she does plan on building up the group which is why I am trying to help her ID it. all of the other fish were black and my sister doesn't like black fish lol...so once we can get a proper ID on this thing, I plan on taking her out myself to find a few more girls to keep her company...

Next time I go to my mom's I will try and get more pictures of her now that she has had time to settle in...

 

[Jenste]

Okay.........hmm....well, we know she was definitely a female!!! I went over to get more pictures of the fish....
and in the plants I see two little orange fry with black specks swimming around....they are definitely not guppy fry!!!

excuse the poor quality - - i took these with the camera on my phone....i used the paint application to circle the fry

I couldn't get one of her because she had herself up in the middle of the floating plants (remember...there are a good four inches of densely packed floating water wisteria in the tank! hopefully the fry survive...maybe as she and they grow we will be able to figure out what they are!!!!

 

[5teady_2012]

Going by the lower lip of the fish, its clearly a molly, its in very poor condition, clamped fins, thinning tail, inflamed gills, all signs of stress, parasites, you need to start some form of treatment on the fish asap. Starting with a big waterchange.