Help With Pregnant Fish To Be

[silver tipped]

Hi,

I have two female platies who I think are pregnant. At least I think they are as they are twice the size of my other female platy and have black gravid spots. I think one though is slightly further along than the other. Her male partner is constantly by her side, to the point of harrassment. Is this normal? She does have places to hide (cave, rocks with uverhangs and plants) but he always finds her so she doesn't get much peace.

I have no idea when these fry may make an appearance so I don't want to place the platies in a breeder trap/net as it still could be at lest a week or two. However I don't want to lose any fry either. I will have a breeder tank set up by the weekend. Would it be ok to transfer the more pregnant looking female to this tank? and if so for how long can she stay there without getting to stressed?

Ta

 

[blitztidus]

A picture would be most appreciated for telling how far along they are, They definately are pregnant. Yes it is normal, males are mating machines. and for putting both in the tank. I don't see why not, but if one is farther along than the other, I would put her in their first.

 

[Annastasia]

If the male is by her to the point of harrassment, that's not just normal mating urge. He's probably trying to stress her out into having her fry so he can have a quick snack. You said her male partner...what's your ratio like? If it's 2 females/2 males, that would explain a lot. You usually want 2-3 females per male, so each female will get a break from the male trying to mate with them.

I wouldn't suggest putting her in a breeder/trap net if you aren't sure about when they'll give birth. Being in there really stresses them out, and you can't keep them in there for more then a few days.

As long as the breeder tank is cycled, it will be fine. Since most breeder tanks are fairly large (2+ gallons), she can stay in there until she has her fry. It's much more roomy then a breeder trap/net, so she shouldn't get too stresed out. Just make sure to give her some plants, and hiding places.

Good luck!

 

[silver tipped]

Hi,

I did aim for the perfect ration 2/3 females to 1 male but, as with some things in life, this never happened.

I went to an lfs as a complete beginner and asked for 4 platies. I had no advice on ratios and ended up with 2 male, 2 female. Then 1 female died after giving birth. (i fry survived for about a 1 week but then no more) Then I found out about ratios as we had some fighting between the males. I did try to rectify this and went back and asked for 3 more females. What I got was 2 females and 1 male. So that made 3 males to 3 females. Everyone appeared to be happy, no fighting

I now have found a really good lfs (won awards and stuff) I asked his opinion about the ratio as I was prepared to swop males for females if necessary. He said that providing all was ok in the tank and that there was no fighting I could just leave them be.

This constant following has only started since she got pregnant. I think that I am going to get the tank sorted and place my female into it. I will give plenty of cover and wait and see what happens. Maybe I'll get lucky and have some female fry that survive so I can eventually get it right.