"Fat" fish

[Neleono]

Good morning/afternoon/night!
I have a fish that seems to be fatter than the others. Its about 4 months old and about an inch long, but Its chest reason seems inflated almost. They seems fine, swims normal, isnt sinking randomly, eating fine and not overeating, and its poop is a light brown. I will add some pictures of them that might help (the fish in question is the yellower one, sorry for the blur). Is the little thing ok? Is this normal? What can i do for them? Thanks, Nele.

 

[matthew12098]

It is likely that your platy is pregnant, especially considering that the orange platy next to her appears to be a male although it is a little hard to tell. Is there a dark spot near her anal fin? That is usually a good indicator that she is pregnant too.

 

[AilyNC]

I've a similar Platy and your one looks very pregnant and close to dropping. The way the bottom of her tummy is like a straight line usually means the fry are coming soon. Leave her in the main tank - she has cover & hiding spots and will feel safer there. If you want you can leave the fry in the tank or catch some abd put them in a small breeder box attached to the inside of the tank. If you do want to keep fry I suggest floating plants. Put some in their box too. Feed crushed food 2/3 times a day or get First Bites fry food. Return to the main tank after 2 weeks so they are big enough not to be eaten by other fish & have more room to grow. I have platy fry that survived in a seperate box & left in the tank.

 

[AilyNC]

Here's my momma Platy and different size fry.

 

[Neleono]

Oh my... thats alot to prosses. I am not comfortable rasing a bunch of baby fish and I live with my parents, is they found out, id be in trouble. How many fish on avrage come from each mother? How many babies should i be expecting, do i need to buy more tanks for them when they get older, or how can i deal with the babies if i cant give them a home myself?

 

[FishGuest5123]

They will eat the babies if you don’t want to care for them. Mother Nature’s way of controlling the population.

 

[Neleono]

Well that seems horrible... any other methods or is that the best course of action?

 

[CassCats]

You could leave them to nature, you got lots of plants so you may get several make it to a larger size.

Once they're about 3 months old, you can choose to keep some males and find homes for the rest and for mom if you dont want more babies every month.

You can expect her to drop anywhere between 5-100 fry every 28 days, even if you got rid of the male.

 

[Neleono]

Earlier this week/ last week i posted a thread about my fish who i thought was just fat but many people told me that pregnant was more likely.
So starting where i left off, my fish was likely suppose to drop her eggs soon, and the past few days she has been slimming down alot. Ive noticed that she is much more skinny than before (not by a lot though). Does this mean she has dropped her eggs already? If so, what am i looking for and how do i see how many babies i should be expecting. Any other information that might help me through this is more than welcome. Thanks, Nele.

 

[AilyNC]

Your fish is a Molly which is a livebearer. She doesn't drop eggs but gives birth to fry (babies). If she's looking thinner she likely dropped fry in the tank. Was there an area she was hanging around? A covered or dark area. Keep an eye out for small fry. It's also possible they have been eaten, or some of them have.

 

[itiwhetu]

Hi,
Look for the fry down in the gravel, just look around the tank through the glass, Live bearer fry will often hang out in the gravel where it is safe from predators.

 

[Neleono]

Shes been hanging around one corner but ive looked there and seen nothing. Ive looked at the hole taken multiple times and saw nothing.

 

[itiwhetu]

Remember they are tiny and won't move much

 

[Neleono]

I spent like 10 minutes staring at the tank and looking around it, unless they're microscopic, i dont see anything

 

[itiwhetu]

The fry are about 2-3 mm long big black eyes. Just be patient they could be any where in the tank