ive only got 2 platys in my tank and both have given birth multiple times over the past 2 months (still got spermies inside from fish store)
the larger red one is hard to tell when pregnant...looks same as if it has eaten a lot. i.e. just fat n round
the blue/silver platy however which is normally slimmer...does get a square shape.
what i've noticed when they are gonna drop the babies very soon, is they go crazy in a corner of the tank, swimming up and down constantly (possibly cause i dont have many hiding places in the tank ???).
The pregnant fish is also aggressive to other fish that swim by (including innocent corydoras). The non-pregnant platy will sniff around the pregnant platys bum a lot...looking for a snack.
cause i'm new to keeping fish, and saw all initial 30 babies 'disappear' - i thought i would attempt to raise the babies on the next batch...so stuck the parents in a large breeder net/box for a week or so - with the breeder box being 5mm below the surface of water so fry can escape. The parents seemed pretty relaxed about the breeder box, but some fry were gobbled up within 2 seconds of being born.
After doing more reading about what prolific breeders these fish are...i've since removed the box and let the parents eat most babies (and some get sucked up by filter). Out of say 30 being born each time, 3 might survive...and i now have groups of 3 fry in 4 different sizes. Very cute at 1 inch long..spitting image of their mother.
