Need Help Asap! Pregnant Platy?

[Jessman]

Hi, I bought a new platy just over a week ago, she was kept in a tank with other males at the lfs, i'd seen her at the lfs a week or so before buying her too so she must of been there for a few weeks with other males. since ive had her my male has been chasing her etc. and i have actually witnessed them mating. so she must be pregnant, but i thought she was only a week or so pregnant, upon looking at her she's rather round and also squared off, i hadnt noticed this before. but i cant find a black gravid spot, although there is a light red/pink spot where the gravid should be or is it just part of her insides? her anal canal is also open as i can see a white spot. i have put her in a breeding trap just incase. is she about to give birth or is she just overfed? any help would be greatly appreciated!! thank you

 

[the_lock_man]

Sorry you didn't get an quicker response.
 
A squared-off belly and an open birthing tube would certainly indicate imminient birthing - the gravid spot isn't a particularly good indicator, though, so don't worry too much about that.
 
Have you thought about what you are going to do with the fry? Many LFS won't take platy fry from home breeders, and platies will drop fry every 4-6 weeks, averaging 30 fry per drop. That's an awful lot of babies to find homes for. In the wild, the majority of fry are eaten, often by the parents themselves, survival of the fittest was never so apt! In a home aquarium, with little planting or other hiding spots, most platy fry are also eaten, but that is often the solution to the problem of where to move them on to.

 

[Jessman]

Thanks for your reply, turns out she wasn't about to give birth! She was just overfed at the time I think, she's fine now, I think she still has a couple more weeks to go.
But I've got another question, my guppy female dropped some fry today, I'm estimating about 10-13 live fry, a few of the healthy ones escaped the hatching trap into the main tank, about two are still alive (I think!) The rest have been eaten. 5 or 6 live fry were still in the trap, but a couple of them are deformed (one eye, bent spine etc.) And around 3 others were born without tails and didn't come out live. She also dropped around 10 other unhatched eggs, I still have 3 healthy ones left in the trap and a couple of healthy ones in the tank so that's good. Is it normal to have so many deformed fry?

 

[the_lock_man]

No it's not. Is it her first drop? Is the tank fully cycled, and if it is, how did you cycle it, and how long ago?

 

[Jessman]

I have no idea if it is her first drop, i only got her monday, the day before she dropped! the tank has been cycled, it has been up running for almost a year and ive had no problems with any other guppies or platys when they drop. the female seemed very happy and had no problems when i put her in the tank over 24 hours before the drop. is it possible she may have aborted the pregnancy before all of the fry had developed properly?