I'm Losing Hope

[FishAddict99]

Here are my two dwarf platies. The one of the left is male and the one on the right is female.

I bought the female December 3, 2007 from Petsmart. From what I can remember she's looked pregnant since I bought her. Well I've been waiting for over two months and she hasn't yet given birth. I've tried everything. I thought maybe she wasn't giving birth because the water was too cold. So I bought a heater and the tank's been set at 80 degrees F for a week now. When that didn't work, I bought her a brand new breeding trap and even put a plant towards the bottom, which I figured would encourage her to drop fry. She stayed in there for two days and when there was no progress, I put her back into the main tank. At this point, I'm afraid that most of the fry are dead, since she's been pregnant for so long. Is there anything else I can add to the tank or at this point, or should I just give up? Or is she not pregnant?

 

[kribensis12]

She looks pregnant. But no that much. I am thinking that maybe the female hasnt had that much experience having fry. So, she hasnt had very big batch's. So, she might not have looked real pregnant and had babies. THere is no way for her to live with live babies that have been growing for 2 month's., and if they died, she would die anyway. So, she looks pregnant, but not that. Unless she is new to babies, then she wont have alot and she wont look that pregnant. Sorry if i confused you.

 

[FishAddict99]

so she is pregnant, its just that she might be giving birth for the first time? and if so, is there anything else i can do or should i just let her be?

 

[dortiz24]

I know exactly how you feel!!! I bought a group of dwarf platies about the same time and one of the females looks exactly the same!!! She did have some babies just a few days ago. She got REALLY big! She was just the size of your platy when I got her too. Just watch for babies. She doesn't look as big as mine got when she finally had babies. Her belly was so big it didn't look orange at all. Almost an ivory color. So watch for her to grow and keep an out for fry. I know it's frustrating! I expected her to have babies at the New Year. lol Good luck. Those dwarf platies just call for patience, lots of patience. lol

 

[FishAddict99]

Well it's been almost 2 months since I first posted on this topic and I thought I'd update. Well my situation has remained the same. Its been 4 months now and I am still waiting for my very pregnant dwarf female platy to give birth. I check every day for babies and my disappointment has been great. I know she isn't constipated, I know she's female, I know she's pregnant. By now, I'm extremely impatient and my female guppy has already given birth once and is close to her second birth. Here are the update photos of my dwarf platy. I took them all today. The male is in all the pictures, religiously following the female.

 

[FishAddict99]

I think my platy is going into labor!!! I came home to find her pretty stationary near the surface. My male platy was tending to her like a worried husband. She was breathing rapidly and taking gulps of air from the surface. She also started pooping a lot. I'm so excited! I want all of the babies to survive so I put her in a breeder box with some java moss on the bottom. It's been a few hours and nothing so far. Hoping that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll have many little babies!!!

 

[12azor]

Platies will usually stay at the bottom of the tank out of sight when going into labour.

Good luck anyway.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I think my platy is going into labor!!! I came home to find her pretty stationary near the surface. My male platy was tending to her like a worried husband. She was breathing rapidly and taking gulps of air from the surface. She also started pooping a lot. I'm so excited! I want all of the babies to survive so I put her in a breeder box with some java moss on the bottom. It's been a few hours and nothing so far. Hoping that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll have many little babies!!!

Um i would say the male is a "hungry" or "horny" husband rather than a worried one, lol- male platys will often eat fry and often harass the female a great deal while she is in labor so he can mate with her ASAP afterwards. Is she the only female platy that you have with him?

 

[FishAddict99]

well apparently, it was a false alarm. i woke up this morning and found no babies. so i took her out of the breeder and she's happily swimming back in the community tank.

yes, she is the only female platy in the tank and there is only one male as well. when she births, i hope to separate her so that the male won't swim behind her eating the babies she drops!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The fact that she's the only female could be whats delaying her pregnancy- female platys will try and hold on giving birth (and may even re-absorb their unborn fry) if they are stressed, and male platys have very high sex drives and will certainly over-harass a female if she's the only one. Increasing the amount of females you have per male will certainly make the female's time easier and so increase the chances of anyone of them giving birth successfully, its one of the reasons why people recommend that you have at least 2-3females per male .

 

[FishAddict99]

Omg I'm so excited! My platy, who I've been waiting over 4 months to give birth, finally did today! I only found 2 babies though, which is a little sad because she was so big in the first place. But I'm so happy that I have at least 2!!!! I need to know: does she still look pregnant and should I put her in a breeding trap now???!?!?!

Here she is after giving birth:

I'll post baby pictures later!

 

[Lylu]

Congrats! I know how excited I was when I found my first fry, I believe it included a girlish squeal - to which my husband (an avid and far more experienced fish hobbyist than myself) just smiled and shook his head.

Anyways, can't wait to see the picture of your new youngin's.

 

[LauraFrog]

Breeding trap. Yep. If you're sure they are hers, she is going to drop more. she's loaded with them.

 

[rossyt99]

Looks like there'll be more coming....my Swordtail dropped 2, then it was another 10 days before another 16 emerged!

If you can get a small 'nursery tank' set-up with plenty of plants it will be good for survival chances.

+Liquifry food 3-4 times a day, then crushed/powdered flakes after a week or so will be needed.

 

[FishAddict99]

Well last night, I thought I saw my fish chasing another platy fry. I looked for a half an hour but didn't find anything. Finally, my friend told me my eyes were just playing tricks on me. But I looked again, and sure enough there was a third baby hiding amongst the plants. So I'm up to 3 now! After that, I put the female in the breeding trap and left her in it overnight. Unfortunately, she didn't drop any more fry.

I have the three babies in my fry tank but today I'm planning on taking them out and putting them in the breeding trap. Then taking the female and leaving her in the fry tank all by herself with some plants. It'll have to be later though, I have a final exam this afternoon and will be studying for it all morning.

Here are the fry pictures I got last night. They are so small, it was hard for the camera to focus on them: