I Think My Girls Are Showing Signs Of Being Pregnant

[Ny82]

I noticed this morning when I was hand feeding peas, that both my regular female platies are looking rather round. I have had these ones about a week and a half. I bought 1 male who is a peach colour mickey mouse platy, and the 2 females from the same tank
Female 1 is silver with black fins and red along the bottom of the tail and a big red bit on the tail. She is the bigger of the 2 and has a gravid spot now. The male seems very interested in her.
Female 2 is identical but with less red. She has a smaller gravid spot.


Here are some pics.
This is when they first came to me

This is them now. Sorry about the quality they are quite fast.

Female 1

and again

managed to get a shot with both of them female 1 on the right, 2 on the left.

Could they be pregnant or are they just overfed?
Thanks

 

[Dieses Madchen]

If they were in a tank with a male, they are probably preggo. Livebearer females and males are quite promiscuous.

 

[Ny82]

If they were in a tank with a male, they are probably preggo. Livebearer females and males are quite promiscuous.

They were mixed males and females in the store tank. About 2 or 3 males and the rest were female. I don't think it was my male in the short period of time I had them. He suddenly seems interested in the bigger female-just her even though there's the other normal platy and then the 2 hi - fin females lol.
How long does a platy pregnancy last and can you recommend some floating plants please. After me panicking with the guppy and it dying in the breeding trap, I am not intervening this time.
Thanks.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

they last about 25-28 days. I don't know much about floating plants, but I used java moss. I also used the fake "maternity plants" that you can get at the LFS. they float. and I put flat slate in the bottom of the tank as it creates gaps just big enough for fry, but not adults.

 

[OldMan47]

Your females are not far along based on their shape. I would guess at least 2 weeks left for them, possibly more.
Some decent plant cover for typical livebearers are najas grass and java moss which tend to lay on the bottom and water lettuce which floats with roots extending down into the water. I usually use java moss but have started to use some najas grass and have water lettuce in a nezzie swordtail tank because swordtail fry tend to go for the surface right after they are born.
Many of the stem plants work well too if you have a large enough mass of them. That includes things like anacharis.

 

[Ny82]

they last about 25-28 days. I don't know much about floating plants, but I used java moss. I also used the fake "maternity plants" that you can get at the LFS. they float. and I put flat slate in the bottom of the tank as it creates gaps just big enough for fry, but not adults.

I have flat slate, I took it out as one of the girls has a scar like thing on her head and that's the only sharp thing in the tank. I will create a little divot in the sand and put the slate flat.

Your females are not far along based on their shape. I would guess at least 2 weeks left for them, possibly more.
Some decent plant cover for typical livebearers are najas grass and java moss which tend to lay on the bottom and water lettuce which floats with roots extending down into the water. I usually use java moss but have started to use some najas grass and have water lettuce in a nezzie swordtail tank because swordtail fry tend to go for the surface right after they are born.
Many of the stem plants work well too if you have a large enough mass of them. That includes things like anacharis.

I love the look of the water lettuce, frogbit and the duckweed! Thanks I will order some in a weeks time. My new filter will have arrived by then too

 

[AshP1986]

Be careful with the new filter. You might want to add your old filters media to the new one so as to not create an ammonia spike.

 

[Ny82]

Be careful with the new filter. You might want to add your old filters media to the new one so as to not create an ammonia spike.

Yeah I will try. I had a thread in the other section about my filter issues i'm having. It's just rubbish.
I ordered the fluval u2 last night, and they are quite skinny pads in there but it was suggested to cut the pads and cut the sponge from my old filter and shove the cutting into my new filter. Hope it works, I have the 2 filters running just now but waters never clear, I had a blip yesterday came back from shopping and the new filter had stopped working and it was a sandstorm in the tank again
Hopefully the filter switch will go smoothly

 

[AshP1986]

Hm thats odd that with 2 filters the water wont stay clean.... Could the current be kicking up the sandy bottom?

 

[Ny82]

I think it must be. I have an air stone in, which I have put on top of a large flat piece of slate so that it doesn't take the sand up with it.
The waters been fine for a while it's just the last few days it's been so cloudy. I managed a 20% water change this morning without causing a sandstorm though so that's an achievement lol!
The filters not very powerful and the old one only does upto 40 litres. It's an aqua one filter and thats been really reliable. But obv it can't handle all the water by itself. I only put it in for the media. Will let you know what happens with this new fluval filter. I have read really good reviews about it so here's hoping!

 

[AshP1986]

How old is the tank itself? Like the glass part and have you added any new decor? Theyv make drops for cloudy water could be nothing

 

[OldMan47]

Sand being kicked up by excessive flow can make a tank like this

look like this.

Actually, I took the pictures in the opposite sequence but the sand storm effect was something I was trying to cure. Pictures of the same tank 24 hours apart. You can even see sand dunes being formed in the tank that had too much flow.

 

[Ny82]

That is exactly how my tank looked after syphoning! I actually posted a question about battery operated ones in the "tropical discussion" section and that's when someone put a video up about how to do proper syphon. I have now managed it twice and it's so much better!
I was too aggressive before trying to get it to start. Now I just put my finger over the bottom end whilst the top end has water in it and it starts itself. I don't even have to press the pump.
I have my new filter it arrived today and I put my old media in it which caused an uproar in the tropical discussion with one particular member. It cleared the water within 2 hours.
The drops I used to get were accu-clear but at £8 a bottle it's not cheap. I will let this filter do it's job. The less chemicals the better!