Preggo Platy

[marcybeth0281]

Hey guys...got 2 female platys from the LFS about 3 weeks ago and just noticed tonight that one of them is pretty dang plump. I see little black dots inside her belly (she is a pale orange color). She is swimming and eating regularly.

I have a 5g hospital tank set up separately (cycled) that I am planning on putting her in to have the babies. It is heated and has a low-powered HOB filter. Bare bottom, a few plastic plants for decoration. Heated to about 78 degrees.

My question is - should I go ahead and pop her in now? Will she be okay alone in the 5g until she has the babies? Should I wait for some sign that she's about to have them? I'm afraid I'll be at work and miss the signs and then I'll have to dig around for them in my 46gallon. Also....how will I know when she is done having them so I can get her back in the community tank? I read through some of the sticky topics but was still vague on some specifics.

Thanks!

 

[home breeders]

Heya

ummmm we have platys when 1 of ours had babies we let her have them in a spearate breeding tank but as soon as shes had them she needs to come straight out or she will eat them platys do eat their own babies sooo you need to be quick and get the mum out as soon as shes had them ok good luck

 

[OldMan47]

If your female is obviously getting close to a drop, move her before it becomes a last minute thing. I always prefer to give my females time to settle in and get comfortable before they drop fry. If you can add a clump of java moss to that tank, the fry will stand a better chance.

 

[marcybeth0281]

Just an update. I woke up this morning to a 46g full of baby platys. I was able to net out 17 of them! I have a gourami, 3 platys. 6 harlequin rasboras, and 3 hatchets in the tank. I'm amazed 17 of them survived!!!

I have them in my 5g hospital tank set to 78 degrees with 2 leafy plastic plants. I just crushed up some flake food to a powder and put it in and a few of them seemed to take notice. Since these are newborns, how often should i give them some powder food? Should I be doing a daily water change with a turkey baster? How much water should I change out at a time? Right now I just have the sponge media in the filter because it was set up as a hospital tank originally - should I have some ammo stones or carbon in as well?

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[OldMan47]

Congratulations MarcyBeth. It strikes me that you don't need advice about moving the female any more.
Since your tank is cycled, you can leave the fry in it and just change enough water to take care of preventing a waste buildup for a little while. If you have access to any live food or maybe even frozen daphnia, it is a better growth food than the flake. Flake will keep the fish alive but supplementing with the live or frozen will move their growth along faster. You should feed at least 3 times and better 5 times a day because the fry can't eat much at all in a single sitting. Meanwhile there is the known fact that frequent water changes that keep the water pristine will also promote good growth. It will probably be most of a month before your tank is too crowded with only 17 fry in it so you have time to arrange better grow out accommodations. By the time a month rolls around, you may need to put some fry back into the 46 to prevent the little tank becoming too crowded.

 

[marcybeth0281]

Thanks!

I got some of the Hikari First Bites powdered food and will look into the frozen foods next week. I can tell they are eating because their little bellies get pink and then by the time the next feeding is scheduled, they are back to iridescent. I was able to save one more from the filter yesterday so I have 18 healthy little ones so far. I see dark spots in mama still, so I know she has more, but she is not plump at ALL so I am assuming it will be a little while till she drops for the second time.

 

[OldMan47]

A typical time between drops on a platy is around 4 weeks. There are very seldom drops that would give you 18 and then try to start going again the next day. I would expect to have to wait for the next batch of fry to develop before seeing any more.