Pregnant Platy

[marpy]

Hi,
First of all I'm new here and I apologize for asking something that's already been asked. I've read the post on how to know if your fish is ready to drop it's fry but I'm still not sure.

I'm new to aquariums as well. I've had a 10 gallons tank for about 6 or 7 weeks. I've got several fish including 3 platties. A few days ago I noticed that one of my platties looked bigger than the others and bigger than it previously had been. Up til that point I didn't know if they were males or females. I googled a bit and determined that I have 1 female and 2 males so I assumed she was pregnant. It took me a day or two to get a breeder tank. I put her in the tank last night but now I'm not sue if I did it too soon or if I was too late. It might be my imagine but she doesn't look as big as she did. She's still bigger than the others and somewhat fat. I'm just really confused. I don't see any fry in my tank so I'm assuming she didn't have them. The only breeder tank I could find quickly is one that has a v shaped insert in it that allows the fry to drop out the bottom. This doesn't give her much room in the top and she seems aggitated. It also makes it harder for me to get a good look at her from different angles. I read that she should only stay in that tank for 48 hours but I don't know if she's close to dropping them. It's only been 2 or 3 days since I noticed she was bigger but I read that the gestation period is 1 month. Should I take her out of that tank and watch her closer before putting her back?

Thanks for listening to this newbie and for any help you might have to offer.

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Hi, I noticed for myself, when I had my pregnant fish in the breeder box, she would get very frantic and scared, I left her in for a couple hrs and she never had the babies in there, I let her out and back into the main tank, and she had her babies during the night,... if you have lots of plants in your main tank, you can just let her give birth naturally, it's way less stressful on the female, and less likely for her to abort. Hope I helped!

 

[Harlequins]

I'm not one for breeding traps now,especially has one of my platy's starting aborting because i put her in to soon and she became stressed,so i let her back in the tank,i will let nature take its course.
All fish are different when due to drop,my orange platy goes and hides near the bottom of the tank and gets quite aggressive with the other platies if they come near her,yet my blue platy gets very anxious and starts swimming rapidly up and down the side of the tank,stops for a few seconds pops out a fry then carries on doing this until she's more or less done,thankfully i managed to save quite a few from the tank.

Her belly will look square on the bottom if she's due to drop.instead of being round upto the anal fin it will look has though it has dropped in line with her front.

 

[OldMan47]

The traps with a V shaped bottom are the kind you want if you are going to use a breeder. I personally do not like to use them but that kind is more likely to save fry than any other type. My own objection is the condition that it forces your female to tolerate. I much prefer to place my female into a separate 10 gallon tank if I want to save some fry. I place some java moss in that birthing tank so that the fry can easily get away from the female. That way the female does not get excessively stressed and there is very little threat to the fry. After the fry drop, I move the female back to the larger tank where her mate is located.

 

[marpy]

Thanks for the quick replies. For now I've put her back in the big tank just incase she's not that close yet. One thing I've noticed since she's been back is that the male platy will not leave her alone. She just can't seem to get away from him. She's not really hanging out near the bottom alot but that could be because he won't let her. She's definitely still pretty big but I can't quite tell if she's squared off yet and I can't tell if there's a white spot. This morning there was a long white stringlike substance but it's gone now so I assume it was waste. Her gravid spot is fairly dark but not quite black. I do notice from certain angles that it looks like lots of little black dots. I tried to take some pictures but they were far to blurry to be of any use. How long is it usually from when you notice them getting quite and when they drop? I'll have to put her back in the breeding trap later because I don't have alot of plants and places for the fry to hide and I don't have a second tank. I'd let them take their chances in the big tank but I have a young son and I think he'd be upset at the thought of the fish eating the fry. Thanks again for the help.

 

[marpy]

She finally dropped some fry! I've been putting her in the breeding trap at night and last night she finally dropped. But there are only 5 fry. Could that mean she is not finished? How long does it usually take to finish dropping the fry? She still looks fairly big. It is one of the traps with the V insert so I'm assuming none were eaten. Should I take her out now?

Mary

 

[Harlequins]

depends if she's just started to drop,my platies take around a few hours to complete a drop,although all fish are different,she might only have 5,leave her alone for a bit longer if she's still big with the tank lights off,maybe cover the tank where you have the breeder,if she is going to drop some more its best you leave her to it.

Good luck and congrats on the fry

 

[marpy]

Thanks! I have no idea when she started to drop. Is it probably safe to say that if she's going to drop more she'll do it in the next few hours, especially if I cover the tank and make it dark? Is it common to only have 5 fry?

 

[Harlequins]

Yes it is possible for only 5 fry,if she's young or small in size or possible could've had them on the tail end of what sperm she had left in her etc,i'm no expert really, i thought my blue platy only dropped 3 but i think she had more in the tank and only spotted them when i upgraded the tank they certainly hide well