Pregnant Dwarf Platys?

[castiel]

One of our Platys looks like she might well be pregnant (the sunburst in the video). But we also have five dwarf platys and it's really hard to tell! They are so round in shape, but some of them I swear must be pregnant too.

Any thoughts?

Here's the video:

 

[KittyKat]

Any female in a tank with males is probably pregnant, unless there is something wrong with her biologically, so it is safe to assume that "yes" is the answer. It was a bit difficult to tell from the video, but some of those platys looked like they *may* be overfed.. how much do you normally feed and what?

I noticed that you have a Bala shark.. please find it a new home with others of its own kind before it becomes stunted.

Also, the "dwarf platys" are more commonly known as "balloon platys", balloon fish tend to have poor health, so watch them carefully

 

[castiel]

Any female in a tank with males is probably pregnant, unless there is something wrong with her biologically, so it is safe to assume that "yes" is the answer. It was a bit difficult to tell from the video, but some of those platys looked like they *may* be overfed.. how much do you normally feed and what?

I noticed that you have a Bala shark.. please find it a new home with others of its own kind before it becomes stunted.

Also, the "dwarf platys" are more commonly known as "balloon platys", balloon fish tend to have poor health, so watch them carefully

The dwarf platys we have only had a few days, so I place any overfeeding blame at the local aquarium! Seriously though, we are feeding flakes daily and bloodworms now and then. And we just bought some shrimp pellets today for the corys. I think the 'rule' is enough so it lasts a couple of minutes before it's all gone?

We actually have two bala sharks and I believe you are the 5th person so far on this forum to tell me off! haha. Just kidding, that is why I joined the forum ... to learn from those that know more than I do. We are going to rehome them both at the next opportunity.

Good to know about the dwarf platys ... of course the aquarium didn't tell us much about them, but we loved their colour and size. And they were bought all together, so we assumed they were the same sex ... but I think at least one is a male. Hopefully they do okay.

Thanks =0)

[edit]Also I didn't mention before, but one of the dwarf platys (the one I suspect is the male) won't leave the sunburst (full size) platy alone! Follows her around for hours. Is that a sign of ... something??

 

[KittyKat]

Any female in a tank with males is probably pregnant, unless there is something wrong with her biologically, so it is safe to assume that "yes" is the answer. It was a bit difficult to tell from the video, but some of those platys looked like they *may* be overfed.. how much do you normally feed and what?

The dwarf platys we have only had a few days, so I place any overfeeding blame at the local aquarium! Seriously though, we are feeding flakes daily and bloodworms now and then. And we just bought some shrimp pellets today for the corys. I think the 'rule' is enough so it lasts a couple of minutes before it's all gone?

Generally people feed 20-60 seconds until completely gone. I recommend 30 seconds until food is completely gone, twice per day, one day per week without any food.

I noticed that you have a Bala shark.. please find it a new home with others of its own kind before it becomes stunted.

We actually have two bala sharks and I believe you are the 5th person so far on this forum to tell me off! haha. Just kidding, that is why I joined the forum ... to learn from those that know more than I do. We are going to rehome them both at the next opportunity.

Good that you're aware of the issue I used to look after some 16" monsters a few years back, they need space!

Also, the "dwarf platys" are more commonly known as "balloon platys", balloon fish tend to have poor health, so watch them carefully

Good to know about the dwarf platys ... of course the aquarium didn't tell us much about them, but we loved their colour and size. And they were bought all together, so we assumed they were the same sex ... but I think at least one is a male. Hopefully they do okay.

Males have gonopodiums, females have anal fins.

[edit]Also I didn't mention before, but one of the dwarf platys (the one I suspect is the male) won't leave the sunburst (full size) platy alone! Follows her around for hours. Is that a sign of ... something??

He's probably trying to mate with her, male platys' sole purpose in life is to mate with anything that moves, which is why for most livebearers, it is recommended that 2 females are kept per each male.

 

[castiel]

Ah, okay, nice tip about the males and females! I just checked and there are four female dwarf platys and one male, then one female platy and one male platy.

We got ourselves a net breeder so will keep an eye on things =0)

 

[KittyKat]

Ah, okay, nice tip about the males and females! I just checked and there are four female dwarf platys and one male, then one female platy and one male platy.

So 2m 5f, which is a good ratio.

We got ourselves a net breeder so will keep an eye on things =0)

Please don't use these, they are very stressful for the fish and the young do not grow well in them. If you want to save young, make your aquarium into a good environment for them! Add lots of plants and mosses, so the females can give birth in those, and the young will live in there until they are big enough to not get eaten.

p.s. here's a tip: if you want to make the tank look better, add a plain black background.. it will make the fish stand out more and hide the cables