My Platies Just Arnt Breeding

[platyfanatic]

well i have had my platies for about a year now i had 2 females and 1 female, however 1 female died and now there is just one female and one male.
At first the male was chasing the female that is now dead but she wasnt interested so he tryed and tryed and he even flipped over and just touched her with his gonopoduim fin, but didnt quite do it.
After this he stopped completely and about 6 weeks or later she died.
Now the female that is still alive now has never been interested in breeding and the male has never chased her.
Is there any way i can get them to breed.
My dad says feed them live foods and turn the heater up a touch, would this help.
Please i need your help. I WANT BABIES!
Thanks

 

[clinton ><>]

hello

you can feed them live foods or turn heater up to about 77 this can help them to breed and if they dont then it might just be you need another female and hope they will

if you have any more questions just tell me and ill help as much as possible

 

[platyfanatic]

thanks for the help.
sadly none of my platys have ever bred, so i have seen no babies.

 

[clinton ><>]

i hope they do breed and have a fair amount of fry

 

[platyfanatic]

thanks, so do i.
fingers crossed

 

[lilfishie]

does you tank have a lot of decore/plants? if not then the females more than likely gave birth then they all had a nice live snack

 

[platyfanatic]

aww gosh i hope not, well this happened in my old tank which was only about 2 gallon so i only had 1 item of ornament ad 1 plant.

 

[lilfishie]

the best way to save fry is lots of hidy holes and plants, floating plants are very good, then once you see fry you can then either leave them be and go survival of the fittest or remove them into a breeder or a seperate tank

 

[platyfanatic]

i am keeping my own tank so as soon as i see fry, they are out of the main tank lol.
I really do hope they breed with the new female, fingers crossed everybody, does anybody have a picture of there platy fry, as i have never seen fry in life or in picture.

 

[lilfishie]

they are quite hard to spot, normally all you see is there big black eyes and they normally come out coloured, so if mum and dad are orange then the fry will come out orange if mum and dad are black then the fry will come out black, add some floating plants and java moss to the main tank, this provide enough cover for a few to survive. is there any other fish in the tank?

 

[platyfanatic]

Nope just one mickey mouse male and one black platy female.
I sthere any chance of them breeding?

 

[poopsydrew]

You will get even more fry if you transfer the pregnant female to the empty aquuarium with some java moss as she wont be hungry for about 12 hours after birth and then you can just move her out of the tank instead of all the fry. Just try to keep the stress during the transfer to the empty tank to a minimum. Also, when she does give birth dont check on her all the time, this can cause her to stress out and have problems with the birth. I know this from experience because it is very exciting when they begin to give birth. Good luck to you and with your breeding.

Drew

Edit- I dont know how big your tank is but for optimum breeding conditions and for aggression issues you need to keep at least 2 preferably 3 females per male. You will get more fry this way anyway

 

[platyfanatic]

thanks drew.
I cant believe people say that platies are the easiest to breed lol.
From my experience id find it easier to get blood from a stone.

 

[lilfishie]

how long did you say you'd had them, the male could be quite old so might have given up on breeding, add another female see how he reacts then

 

[poopsydrew]

thanks drew.
I cant believe people say that platies are the easiest to breed lol.
From my experience id find it easier to get blood from a stone.

NP, glad to help a fellow platy breeder Dont worry they are easy to breed it just takes some time. Once the male fertilizes the female it takes about a month. Look around on this site about how to tell if their pregnant, that question is asked five times a day
They also store sperm so will be probably be pregnant every month. If you keep the water quality in good condition and provide a healthy and varied diet you will have a pregnant female in only a matter of time.

Drew