Pregnant Sunburst Platy?

[pinkclover]

We have a 5 gal tank for our son with 2 females and the 1 male we had died unexpectedly about a week after getting the females. That was a month or so ago. A few days ago I saw a baby fry in the tank and quickly pulled him and separated him. He is cute and happy...I'm assuming only one mom had babies and the two females ate all but one </3. There's one female who is a small mickey mouse and obviously not pregnant and a large sunburst who just looks massive to me. I had her in a birthing box but she was really stressed so I got a lot of plastic plants and put her back in the original tank. I'm hoping if she has any fry, they can hide in the plants until I realize she's had them and can separate them from her. Just wanting to see if you guys think she's for sure pregnant, she has no dark spot but I wondered if that just comes when its almost time. Plus she's pretty dark. I'm just confused lol...thank you!

 

[Mamashack]

I wouldn't bother separating unless you want to be over-run with platy fry. The fact that dad has gone (sorry for your loss) doesn't mean that they won't breed any more. They can have up to 6 lots of fry at 4-5 week intervals from one mating. The platy in the picture does indeed look pregnant altho I'm no good at estimating how far along they are. When she looks very square from the side (squared-off is the term) she'll more than likely be having them within 24 hrs.
There may well be more than 1 fry in there now - they are very adept at hiding, but more plants won't do any harm at all. Feed them 3-4 times a day and keep the water quality good - it/they should be ok. Just be careful with the syphon - you could put a clean unused, unwashed stocking over the end to avoid sucking up the odd fry, but I never bothered and don't think I lost any that way.

 

[fluttermoth]

I agree with Mamashack.
 
Unless you have a bigger tank, then you don't have room for babies to grow properly and be happy; a 5 gallon tank is just too small, even for adult platies, if we're being honest

 

[pinkclover]

Thanks! I'm aware that 3 is the max for a 5gal so that's why I only got 2 to add to my original lone male. I have a few other small tanks plus have a sister with some tanks so will be sure not to overcrowd. That's amazing that they can keep having babies that far out. We used to own 7 tanks ranging from 10-55 and had hippies that bred a lot. Those were easier to determine their pregnancy because of their slender bodies. Platy have been harder because they already have a larger stomach area So will this ones stomach turn darker?

 

[pinkclover]

Guppies* not hippies

 

[Mamashack]

Sometimes they get a gravid spot but not always. Mine didn't for the first 2 lots of fry or maybe I just wasn't very good at spotting it! It's a dark area behind the anal fin and it caused by the darkness of the fry eyes.