Sexing Platies...help!

April FOTM Photo Contest Starts Now!
FishForums.net Fish of the Month
🏆 Click to enter! 🏆

Chantal38

New Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2020
Messages
37
Reaction score
10
Location
England
I have 3 platies who i believed were all female...2 months ago i found 3 fry in my tank...thinking these came from a female i purchased about a month before this from a mixed tank i assumed she was pregnant when i got her...then this morning i woke up to 4 more fry! So im assuming one of the females is male...could anyone help me with this as they all look female to me...the orange one is a female i kept from a batch of previous fry...the purply coloured one is the female i bought from the mixed tank that could have been pregnant when i got her...she is the only one that has looked pregnant over the last week or so...and the salt and pepper platy i purchased over a month ago from a mixed tank also but she showed no signs of pregnancy at all...she is pretty see-through so i would have expected to see a rounded tummy or at least maybe have seen the fry....i have attached some photos...
 

Attachments

  • E26D7A82-7250-4F15-A997-0AE94842514F.jpeg
    E26D7A82-7250-4F15-A997-0AE94842514F.jpeg
    197.3 KB · Views: 57
  • 3A98AF4D-8FAC-4172-BE1B-007C61BEB084.jpeg
    3A98AF4D-8FAC-4172-BE1B-007C61BEB084.jpeg
    307.8 KB · Views: 67
  • 52CF6126-290C-4CE4-8891-91511A3B58F9.jpeg
    52CF6126-290C-4CE4-8891-91511A3B58F9.jpeg
    159.3 KB · Views: 47
  • 73101A47-D80A-403B-A753-DE986B300440.jpeg
    73101A47-D80A-403B-A753-DE986B300440.jpeg
    217.2 KB · Views: 58
  • 951F46BA-37BB-42C0-A29F-04F6764EEE8E.jpeg
    951F46BA-37BB-42C0-A29F-04F6764EEE8E.jpeg
    190 KB · Views: 87
All of those are female.

Platies and many other livebearers store sperm and can have consecutive pregnancies even with no male present. Chances are you will have fry every 28 days from the last ones for a few months. This will differ depending on which female is dropping. And some may never show pregnancy signs or a dark gravid spot. That is variable depending on colouring, size of brood, etc.
 
Oh wow thank you....i didn't realise they could store the sperm for that long! Is it ok to put the fry that have been born today with 2 month old fry or should i keep them seperate? And if any more fry come along would it be ok to put them in to the breeder box too?

Sorry i should have said also im currently treating the tank with an anti fluke & wormer...will this harm the day old fry if i do put them in the breeder box in the main tank?
 
Last edited:
Id keep them in a brood box considering you are treating for parasites. Theyve been exposed already, so dont risk transferring them to another tank. You can move them after treatment :)

If you werent treating, itd be okay to move them in with the older fry if the tank is large enough
 

Most reactions

trending

Members online

Back
Top