Gray Plattys Pregnant

[S-fish]

Hey Everyone, 
I am new in this hobby, but I am very excited with it( I actually talk to my fish in the morning, and they know when I  am gonna feed them). Anyways, I have a tank with 1 Big Angel Fish , 7 tetras, and 3 Playes. My platys don't last too long except for a silver female that I call the mother ( As I am always expecting babies from her). I have had her in the tank for almost 4 months, and I always introduce new males and females that usually die after a couple weeks. I want to know if she could be possibly pregnant based on this pics.  I don't have really many places for the fry to hide, however, I stablished another aquarium  (2.5 gallons) without fish just plants to leave the Fry once they are delivered. 
 

 
My questions are the coming ones:
1) Do you guys think she is pregnant or just fat? IF she is why has she looked the same for the last couple weeks.
2) She is very nervous. So I don't know if it is a good idea to transfer her to the small aquarium. I will replace the water of the small aquarium with water of the old tank where she was.
3) How long should I let her there?
 
Thanks for comments.

 

[AshleyNZ]

You can tell she's pregnant because of the dark spot at the base of the tail/ on her belly. This is called a "Gravid Spot". You'll know when she's ready to drop fry when she "boxes off" (when her appearance becomes boxy in shape, something like \_/ )

 

[attibones]

I would like to point out that a gravid spot does not always indicate pregnancy. Some females just have a naturally darker gravid spot which is visible from adolescence or earlier. However, if you have at least one male and one female platy in a tank together, you can almost always safely assume the female is pregnant. How large is your tank? What is your platy ratio? 

 

[Goggy]

ive never bred fish before but you guys make it sound easy i better follow this topic!
 
If your platy is very nervous it may be because she is under stress because of all the fish moving around, or the intimidating size of angelfish the angelfish may be bullying her at some point you didnt notice i would not think its a good idea to switch tanks; maybe you can use one of those tank divider things

 

[S-fish]

Guys thanks for your responses!! They were faster than going to petland! I thought in putting her in another tank as the guys at the store recommended me. They say that I could catch her " easier" by just putting the catching net under them in a 30 degrees angle and not as usual in 85. I will tell you how does it go! Also, I got female platys today. I found a technique in a scientific paper to see how close the fish are to deliver some of the fry. Once I try it, and knows it works I will drop it here!

 

[S-fish]

You can tell she's pregnant because of the dark spot at the base of the tail/ on her belly. This is called a "Gravid Spot". You'll know when she's ready to drop fry when she "boxes off" (when her appearance becomes boxy in shape, something like \_/ )

Thanks for your response! I had misunderstood the gravid spot as just a tiny dark spot exactly in the anal cavity, but now I see that it is bigger than that.

I would like to point out that a gravid spot does not always indicate pregnancy. Some females just have a naturally darker gravid spot which is visible from adolescence or earlier. However, if you have at least one male and one female platy in a tank together, you can almost always safely assume the female is pregnant. How large is your tank? What is your platy ratio? 

 My tank is a 20 gallon,  and my ratio NOW is 4females/1 male. Two females and the male are small, and the platy in the picture is a big female. I would say that my ratio is 4:1

 

[attibones]

I would like to add, given this information, that you'll soon be over run with fry and the angelfish needs a larger tank. However, depending on the species of tetra you have and how many hiding spots you have in your tank, they may be eaten (the fry) before you have a population problem.

 

[S-fish]

I would like to add, given this information, that you'll soon be over run with fry and the angelfish needs a larger tank. However, depending on the species of tetra you have and how many hiding spots you have in your tank, they may be eaten (the fry) before you have a population problem.

Thanks for your opinión! I Have probably 4 different hiding places. I know my tetras hide at night, in those places. Now, that you mentioned the tetras may be eating them. It will explain why the tetras look bigger and more robust than before. I will keep probably just a couple of fry the rest will be part of the cycle of life. About the angel, I will def get a bigger aquarium in a couple of months no yet though.

 

[attibones]

If you intend to keep some of the fry, I suggest you start planting the tank pretty well. You don't have neon tetras, by the way, right? Adult angels will eat them and platy fry. Platy eat their own fry too. 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

What size tank do you have?
Do you have a test kit (preferably liquid) that measures ammonia and nitrite (nitrate and pH are also helpful), if you do, what are the readings? The reason I ask is because something is wrong if the platies keep dying. 
Did you cycle the tank before you added your fish? If yes, did you use the cycling method in my signature (or a similar one)? 

 

[S-fish]

Guys I have good news and bad news. The "mother" has giving me some fry and so far I have rescue 4. The other fry have been part of the special meal for the rest of the fish at the aquarium. I tried to catch the mother but as usual she just got crazily agitated; so I will leave her alone. Also, to my surprise, my Nerita snails have given me some new baby snails I have them in a separate tank now. I will post some of the pictures of the fry tomorrow hopefully. Thanks everybody for your comments and help!

 

[S-fish]

What size tank do you have?
Do you have a test kit (preferably liquid) that measures ammonia and nitrite (nitrate and pH are also helpful), if you do, what are the readings? The reason I ask is because something is wrong if the platies keep dying. 
Did you cycle the tank before you added your fish? If yes, did you use the cycling method in my signature (or a similar one)? 

Hey Kia ,I have a 20 gallons tank.
I have a test kit and I have used every week. My readings are the next ones:
ph:7.4
Ammonia:0
Nitritite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate:5ppm
I replace 25% of the water of my tank every week. I have a filter for my 30 gallon tank, as I know they are many fish. I have noticed in my case that a proportion of 1/6 females is good. My males always kill each other. I have a lot of plants, and 2 vases for them hide. I just replaced yesterday my plastic plants for real ones. Kia, the real plants will facilitate the cleaning so much because they control all the levels of nitrites and nitrates. However, I will recommend you to buy Caribsea eco-complete it seems like it is fantastic for the plants, but be aware that the first day the water will look messy. When I add water I always measure the temperature to add with a Standard deviation of +/- 1.5 F. 
 
Hope it helps,

 

[S-fish]

Hello again Everybody, 
 
I have a 2.5 gallon tank with plants and water running with some of my baby nerite snails. I have this tank as proliferation Tank for my plants (Every week I give it the water of the tank that I am cycling. I have in the tank the heater, the light and the filter. On the other Tank, I have the fry I was able to save in the breeding net, but I noticed that in indescribable way my neon tetras are being able to jump into the net -even though they can't get out. The neons had a fest. I have raise the net way above the water level but still doesn't seem good. Now, all the fish around the net are predators. My angel fish sucked the net where one of the fish was and I had the feeling that the pressure killed one of the fry. So, I have two questions:
 
1) Can I transfer my baby Fry to a new aquarium?
 
2) Do I need to replace the gravel? I will replace all the water of the 2.5 gallon tank with the one from their original tank, but I don't really want to disturb the gravel.
 
This are some of the pics.
ps: the fry are 1 week old.
 
 
Thank you all!
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:76475]
 

 

[AshleyNZ]

Putting water from one tank into another doesn't do anything.  I would just add new water to the 2.5G, as long with a cycled filter (Sponge filter?) for the fry if you really want to move them. That way they wont get sucked into the filter.

 

[S-fish]

Putting water from one tank into another doesn't do anything.  I would just add new water to the 2.5G, as long with a cycled filter (Sponge filter?) for the fry if you really want to move them. That way they wont get sucked into the filter.

Thanks for the quick post Ashley. I just checked today and the pH in both and the chemical load is different between aquariums. I think that my fry would die if I trasfer them to the new aquarium with better quality water.