Is my fish pregnant

[Dani5191]

Just bought a couple of days ago, if she’s pregnant how long left would you say? Thanks in advance!

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hmmm, tough to say really. Looks like she might be, and if she is going to have babies probably in 5 days or so. Make sure you have some floating plants for the fry to hide if you are planning to sell them or let nature take it's course. I'm not an expert though

 

[emeraldking]

Might take a while before she actually will deliver fry. She's way of being close to it.

 

[Dani5191]

I’m going to use a breeder box but in a different tank so I’m just wondering really when I should set the other tank up

 

[Dani5191]

Might take a while before she actually will deliver fry. She's way of being close to it.

So you think she’s pregnant?

 

[Essjay]

Those breeder boxes are not ideal as they stress the female. It is much better to let her give birth in the tank, and have lots of plants (real or fake) for the fry to hide in.

 

[Dani5191]

Oh okay thank you, I have a separate tank which I’m going to be using for the fry. When should I set this up? Is she definitely pregnant?

 

[Dani5191]

Those breeder boxes are not ideal as they stress the female. It is much better to let her give birth in the tank, and have lots of plants (real or fake) for the fry to hide in.

Also how many fry will she have?

 

[Essjay]

If she's very young she won't have many, maybe half a dozen. But if she's older she could have any number up to about 50.

 

[Dani5191]

If she's very young she won't have many, maybe half a dozen. But if she's older she could have any number up to about 50.

I had only bought her a few days ago so I could only presume she’s young. How long before the birth would you say?

 

[Essjay]

Quite a long way. Livebearers tend to look as though they've swallowed a box just before they give birth - their abdomen gets almost square. A young females with few fry might not get as square as she will as she matures.

 

[emeraldking]

So you think she’s pregnant?

She might be but at an early stage. I wouldn't say that she's so young. But what's also common is that a number of females when moved to a new enviroment (for instance, when you just bought them) may also drop a smaller batch when pregnant even if she had larger batches of fry before. That's quite normal.

 

[Dani5191]

Thank you so much everyone!! I am so excited to get my fry?