pregnant platy

[fishykisses]

i was wondering if seeing eyes meant that my tri-coloured platy is going to give birth soon.
Any help would be greatly appreciated - i'm new to the world of livebearers and never had fry before.
I have her in a breeder box at the moment but if if will be a number of weeks i'll let her loose again.
Thanks

 

[Annastasia]

If you actually see developed eyes in her gravid spot, then yes, she'll be pretty close. Does she look ready to burst?

Oh yeah, and if you are going to keep her in a breeder box, don't keep her in there more then 3 days at a time without a break. You don't want her getting totally stressed out and aborting. So give her at least a 12 hour break in between.

 

[fishykisses]

tomorrow i'm getting a 15G for my 2 pregnant guppies and 2 pregnant platy's!

 

[Annastasia]

Great, I'm sure they'll enjoy that! Make sure to plant it heavily, and add lots of decorations and things so the fry have places to hide when they are born. Mossy type plants and floating plants are best. Also, depending on what type of filter you have, you might want to stick some breeding net or pantyhose over in the intake tube to stop them from being sucked up.

Also, you may want to leave the females in there a couple days after giving birth, just so they can recover, and get their strength back up before going in with other fish and males.

Best of luck!

 

[fishykisses]

thanks for the advice annastasia,
i will follow it to the letter.

 

[Annastasia]

Hopefully not literally follow it to the letter...because I just spelled 'decorations' wrong....oops. )

Oh yeah, and one more thing I forgot to add. Once you realize some babies are born, really try to fill up the adults on food for the next few days so they don't feel so inclined to eat the fry. You might have to clean the tank more often....but at least it increases your chance of fry survival. After a few days they should be better at swimming, and getting away, so you can then cut back to normal amount.

 

[fishykisses]

cool - i can do that
...i guess i should get some fry food!
Oops - almost forgot ... i doubt they will give birth tomorrow anyway
although my platy is getting really close.

 

[fishykisses]

Well...i got the tank and the fry food - they didn't have any liquid fry food for livebearers so i got frozen baby brine shrimp. Oh and the tank isn't 15G it's 25G!
Here's a couple pics of the new tank with the 4 Mommy's-to-Be!

and the VERY PREGNANT platy mommy...if you look really close - you may be able to see eyes in her tummy!

 

[Annastasia]

Wow, fishykisses, that is so great! I am sure they totally love it, and it looks like a great, stress free enviroment. Good job!

The only thing is...I can't imagine too many fry could survive, seeing as there aren't many places for them to get away. Any chance you could get some breeding grass, or some mossy kind of plant? Or just more like the one in the bottom right corner, put together. Floating plants also work well.

 

[fishykisses]

yup...i can and will do that!

 

[Betta*b*Happy!]

Hi guys,

I'm following this topic closely as i have 2 sunset platies that look like they have about a week to go and i need to know how to do the best thing for them.

KEep up the good work and let me know how it goes!

 

[fishykisses]

ok. i've followed instructions
here's what i got - please lemme know if i need anything else...I'm so thankful to you guys for helping me out so much! The babies will thank you too!
so here it is...

i'm also gonna put a little rock cave i made in after i clean the 10G...i'm just gonna borrow it from the betta girls for awile - they have tons of stuff - they shouldn't miss it too much
Oh! i also covered the intake tube with some cut up nylons so the babies don't get sucked up.
Ok thanks again - please lemme know if you guys have any more suggestions

 

[Annastasia]

Once you get the caves in there, it should be just about perfect. I'm sure all the Mommies to be love it!

And it sounds like you're doing everything perfect. Good job! Also, you may want to keep some fry food handy, just in case they come along.

 

[fishykisses]

i got the frozen BBS - it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to defrost them.
how long will they eat that?
and at what age are they big enough to go into the big tank?

 

[Annastasia]

They'll eat that their whole life, though I wouldn't give just that to them. You don't want them getting bloated or constipated. So I'd alternate in fry food, or finely crushed up flakes. And make sure when you defrost it, it really is totally defrosted. I've heard horror stories about foods that aren't always totally defrosted and cause health problems in the fish. Or Blockage problems.

And they can go in the main tank when they are too big to fit in the biggest fish's mouth. Or you can wait a little longer, if you're afraid of Bullying.