How long should I wait?

[Jezah]

Perhaps I am just impatient but my VERY pregnant platie has not givin birth and it has been almost 1 1/2 months since I noticed her being really huge. She is really fat, but its not dropsy cause her scales are flat and she has a gravid spot. However, she is looking quite depressed as well. She is just floating listlessly at the top of her tank, alive but just floating. She is currently house with two 4 month old Molly fry, and they leave her alone pretty much, but she is just so sad looking. Also, the 4 month old fry are only a inch or so long...is this normal? And will they attack and/or eat the new baby platies when they are born? Didnt know I could get this worked up over a fish.

 

[lightningjoe]

Try doing a water change and check the PH. I have a platy that was large for a long time also, when i checked the PH it was to high, a week after i lowered it she had her fry. I had her in a 30 gallon tank with a divider in the middle and molly on the other side. Both of them were over due. About the same time i lowered the PH i also added an old truck tire mud flap next to the divider so they couldnt see each other. I would guess the PH had more to do with it than anything. The molly still hasnt given birth and has since been sick with a fungus. She is all healed but must have aborted because she is no longer as large as she was.

 

[Jezah]

Gah! My PH was way low, so acidic. I guess I didnt think of checking the small tank, the big tank is always so perfect. Well, I took some water from the big tank(its Alkaline, Hard and with just a little bit of Nitrates) and put it in the small one. So now the water is good, but she still hasnt givin birth!

P.S Would the small baby mollys I have in there now eat the newborns? The baby mollies are only about 3/4 of an inch long....

 

[lightningjoe]

I doubt it, i have some small mollys about that size and they dont seem to pay any attention to the two week old platy fry i have. But if you are going to leave them i would put plenty of cover in for the new borns when they arrive. I have been putting my mollys back in the main tank when they are that size at about six weeks.