Pregnant?

[harryhoudini]

Hi,

I was wondering if any one could tell me if my sunset mickey mouse platy and
Red tail female guppies are pregnant or not. I have read a lot of different websites and was wondering if any one could give me a direct answer on my fish.

Sunset mickey mouse platy:

(Sorry about the blurry pic)

Red tail female guppies:

Thanks

 

[the_lock_man]

Platy certainly looks that way.

The guppy on the right again looks so, but the one on the left less so.

If they've been in contact with a male within the last 6 months, then 99.9% certain that they're pregnant.

 

[harryhoudini]

Thanks, thought they where but wanted to check.
had the guppies 2 and half weeks and the platy a week and half.
they are mixed in with males, so we thought it would happen but not that quickly.

What would be the best next steps as i have never had pregnant guppies and platy before. i will be poping to the shop soon to buy a fish hatchery but when would be the best time to put the fish in?

 

[fluttermoth]

I wouldn't use any kind of hatchery or breeding trap; they're too small and can cause the mother fish so much stress that she can abort or miscarry the fry; they're also too small to allow the fry to grow properly.

The best thing to do (and which is how serious and professional fish breeders do it) is to put a few large bunches of fine leaved plants (like cabomba, elodea or Java moss) in the tank, which gives the fry somewhere to hide and they'll also eat tiny particles from them.

Yes, a few fry will get eaten by the adult fish, but unless you have masses of tank space you won't have room to raise all the fry properly anyway, bearing in mind that each female livebearer can have around 40 or 60 fry every 30 days.

 

[harryhoudini]

The only problem is that within the tank with have a bristle nose catfish and some other catfish within the tank, so surely this kind of fish would eat the fry ?

 

[fluttermoth]

Not really no; livebearer fry spend most of the time very near the surface, so the cats won't really notice them

 

[the_lock_man]

The only problem is that within the tank with have a bristle nose catfish and some other catfish within the tank, so surely this kind of fish would eat the fry ?

The bigger problem will be the parents. They have no parenting skills at all.

 

[Reret]

Better get a breeder trap or a breeder 5 gallon bowel

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Better get a breeder trap or a breeder 5 gallon bowel

Breeder trap is too small, and so is the 5 gallon. I had a 10 gallon tank that I raised my fry in, I had them in it a month and had to move them as the 10 gallon is still to small to raise an entire livebearer drop in.

 

[harryhoudini]

Thanks for all of your help, have chosen to leave the fish in the main tank as i dont want to stress them out in a breeder tank and atm i dont have a share tank for the fish atm.

They still haven't given birth yet. does anyone know around about time that they could have fry?

thanks