Female Platy Fish Isn’t Getting Pregnant

[platka]

Hi all

I hope you can help me with this one...

I have four platy fish that I purchased about a month ago. The pet store staff reassured me that all four platies were MALE, however after changing my fish tank background recently, I actually noticed that one of them has a triangular fan-like shaped fin (female) and not long and flat like the others. I am positive that it is a female, so why is she not pregnant seeing as she’s in a tank with three different males? The males don’t chase her or show any interest whatsoever. My water parameters are as they should be and and they’re all happy and healthy fish (they eat a lot!). She is noticeably smaller than the rest, so I’m wondering if maybe she hasn’t matured yet? (She’s eating and growing fine. She was just much smaller than them when I bought them). Can someone help please?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Any chance of a picture and short 60 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

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What does the fish's poop look like?

It's possibly a young female that either isn't pregnant, is not yet sexually mature, has a bad case of intestinal worms, or is sterile.

 

[emeraldking]

If that particular platy is indeed a female, doesn't mean right away that she's pregnant in a short period of time. Maybe no mating has taken place. But also when it has mated with a male, doesn't mean that she will be pregnant in an instant. As long as she only stores sperm packets, she won't be pregnant.

 

[platka]

If that particular platy is indeed a female, doesn't mean right away that she's pregnant in a short period of time. Maybe no mating has taken place. But also when it has mated with a male, doesn't mean that she will be pregnant in an instant. As long as she only stores sperm packets, she won't be pregnant.

Hi

Hi and welcome to the forum

Any chance of a picture and short 60 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

---------------------
What does the fish's poop look like?

It's possibly a young female that either isn't pregnant, is not yet sexually mature, has a bad case of intestinal worms, or is sterile.

Hi Colin

Thanks for replying

Here's the URL for the video

(I couldn't get a clear photo for you). The female is the golden black one. Her poop is dark in colour like the rest of them and doesn't look unusual to me

Hope this helps

Btw what are some of the symptoms of intestinal worms?

 

[platka]

If that particular platy is indeed a female, doesn't mean right away that she's pregnant in a short period of time. Maybe no mating has taken place. But also when it has mated with a male, doesn't mean that she will be pregnant in an instant. As long as she only stores sperm packets, she won't be pregnant.

Hi Emeraldking

Is there a particular reason why mating hasn't taken place? What can I do to encourage it? What are sperm packets?

 

[emeraldking]

Hi Emeraldking

Is there a particular reason why mating hasn't taken place? What can I do to encourage it? What are sperm packets?

Hi there,
Well, there could be more reasons why no mating has happened yet. Females that are willing do give a certain scent. If that doesn´t happen, she won´t allow a male to mate with her anyways. Maybe it sounds weird to mention that they produce a scent but it does happen. I´ve written an article in dutch and german about it.

There´s not that much to encourage them. But a more frequent water change might trigger them to mate (this goes for egglayers and livebearers).
Sperm packets are packages of sperm. Females of ovoviviparous livebearers (so, no viviparous livebearers) have the ability to store such sperm packets. When an actual mating will take place, the gonopodium will be drected to the female sexual organ. The gonopodium won't insert her sexual organ but will donate sperm at the opening of the female's sexual organ. The sperm will be sucked in her sexual organ by the female herself and the sperm fluid will be divided in parts (sperm packets). Those sperm packets will be stored in the folds of the oviduct (= fallopian tube or uterine tube). At that point, the female is not pregnant. The female herself decides wether to use one or more sperm packets by opening one or more folds that will fertilize the egss. As long as she won't open one or more folds, she won't be pregnant. That's why it's incorrect to say that a female livebearer is always pregnant. Sperm storage can last as over a year and not just a couple of months. So, if a female is carrying sperm packets and she'll mate with another male, you won't know who's the exact father of the offspring. Because the folds will be opened randomly. Which makes it possible that one batch of fry is fathered by multiple males. So it's not that the first sperm packets will used first. It's totally randomly. This is also why a lot of people make the mistake to think that the one male that has been in the same tank as the female (for you don't know if she's already carrying sperm packets) is the correct father of the offspring. Unless she's clean (= virgin or out of sperm packets) at that time period.