Platty is Pregnant

[Nina7777]

Hi Everyone,
I've had a male and female plattie in a 10 gallon tank (which is cycling) now for about a week and a half. My female is definately pregnant, as her belly is hanging alot lower and is alot rounder than when i first brought her home.

I have a few questions! (I Apologize if these have been answered in different posts however I did not see them)

1.) Should I buy 2 more females so my one female does not get harrassed by the male constantly (My tank is new however I used gravel from established tank as well as bio-spira)
2.) How long are platties pregnant for, and approximately when should I move her.
3.) Should I use a 5 gallon for the fry?(I was using the 5 gallon for my betta but he got a new home so it is empty now)
4.) Do you use a filter with the fry or will they get sucked up?

Any other tips would be appreciated, as i had a molly about 10 years ago that had fry but that is the only time I ever had babies!

Thanks sooo much!

 

[warrion_2000]

1.) Should I buy 2 more females so my one female does not get harrassed by the male constantly (My tank is new however I used gravel from established tank as well as bio-spira)

Ans. If you want to you can get another female but if your male doesn't bug your female too much you don't need to, and then you'll have to many fry.

2.) How long are platties pregnant for, and approximately when should I move her.

Ans. approx. 3-4weeks move her in about 2.5-3 weeks

3.) Should I use a 5 gallon for the fry?(I was using the 5 gallon for my betta but he got a new home so it is empty now)

Ans. The five gallon should be fine for now.

4.) Do you use a filter with the fry or will they get sucked up?

Ans. You don't need a filter but you need to do daily water changes and feed them about 6 times a day this will help them grow quicker.

good luck

 

[Carolinesugar]

hiya, just wanted to wish u the world of luck, i hope that u manage to cope with the babies.

u mite wana get some floating weed from ur lfs for the fry to live in, i have sum with my fry and they love it!

 

[Nina7777]

ok, well one more question. If i were to get some hornworth or java moss for my main tank and just left the babies in there, how would i feed them?

 

[marks69]

the fry will find enought food on the bottom, and the stuff that grows on the hornwort.the best thing would be put them in the 5gal, and i would use a filter, just put a sponge over the intake.that's also a good food source for them.some people say to keep the fry out of the main tank till they reach 1", but after about 2 weeks i stick mine back in, and usually don't lose any.
you'll also find that a bright orange fish is really hard to find in any tank, we just had platy fry on sat, and i spent hours looking in my 55 with sand and lots of plants, and i still find more.
gl
mark

 

[Nina7777]

awww yes, finding a bright orange fish is actually extremely hard! I searched for almost a half an hour for mine and I only have a 10 gallon!

Now about the 5 gallon? I have filter and heater, but it is not cycled. Can I just use water that i siphoned from an older tank? Or how should I go about cycling it, since i don't know how long i have, nor do i want to put any other fish in there!

 

[warrion_2000]

if you want your fry to safe then only put them back after the fry(not counting the tail) are bigger than the mouth of your biggest fish.