Platy Babies And Another Pregnant Platy

[KaidatheDragon]

So I have fry already in a basic breeding net (only 4 since I didn't know one had them until I cleaned the tank) and I am pretty sure I have another one pregnant with a extended belly and I THINK dots in her ovary area. I want to save as many babies as possible but I have no idea when she will be giving birth and when to put her in the net as well. I don't want her to eat the fry already in there but I don't want her fry eaten ether. Is there a way to tell when she will give birth? Will the other fry eat the newborn fry? I don't have a breeding net spliter either...

Please help! DX

Here are pictures

 

[slimeneo]

Pictures will help You can tell when she is ready when her belly "squares off." The other fry won't eat the new fry. I would suggest getting lots of plants in the main tank for the fry to hide, or else they will be eaten by the adults. I wouldn't suggest moving the mother because it can stress her out and abort the pregnancy, just let her have the babies in the main tank and catch any if you can

 

[fluttermoth]

Agreed.

Don't think I'm being horrible, but you shouldn't try and save every single fry. If you think that each of your platies will have around 30-40 fry every 30 days, well, I don't know how many platies you have, but that's a lot of fry you're talking about.

And even though they're small, they need a largish volume of water, and large regular water changes if they're not to become stunted, and you have to find homes for them, plus if you don't separate the sexes and rehome the fry quickly enough, in four or five months, all your fry will be having 30-40 fry every month as well...

You could very quickly get overrun and end up with a load of sickly, stunted fish that you can't sell or give away; I know plenty of people (including my own mother!) that this has happened to, and it's not fun, not fun at all

(the plural of 'fry' is 'fry', btw, not 'frys' )

 

[KaidatheDragon]

I understand the give away thing, I have friends who want them and a store that will let me surrender them, don't worry . I'm not as worried losing the new fry as much as the 4 fry. I guess I feel I need to keep these guys alive since I lost so many, but I see your point. Thank you both for the advice. I also uploaded pictures to help see if she is close or not. But what does it look like when the stomach is "squared off"?

(I should have known that... Thanks for the correction)

 

[slimeneo]

I think she's still got a couple weeks to go. Squared off looks like

 

[KaidatheDragon]

Oh ok. But is she actually pregnant or am I just ahead of myself?

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

i THINK she is but they all look alittle chuby wat and how often do you feed them

 

[KaidatheDragon]

Twice a day

 

[Fish12345]

it looks to me like shes goning to pop any day soon. Oh and if you switch the fish tank light off the fish want get stressed in the breer trap.

 

[slimeneo]

I don't think she's going to give birth any time soon... probably in a couple of weeks.

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

what do you feed them

 

[KaidatheDragon]

what do you feed them

Flakes

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

mine get like fifteen different things

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

almost all tetra brands