Show me a sign

[Fishy Fishy Man]

If anyone saw my topic in the emergency forum you will know that one of my platies just gave birth today, but as I didnt know she was pregnant, all the lil babies got suked into the filter and died on the sponges

To stop this from happening again, what are the signs of a pregnant platy? and
How do you stop them from getting sucked up the filter and dieing? (only got one tank atm)

R.I.P lil ones

 

[fishluver]

I cut a piece of a panthose big enough to fit around the bottom of the tube from my filter, and tied it off with 2 rubber bands. hope this helps

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

Wow nice idea. Very innovative

The big question i need answered though is what are the signs of a pregnant platy? This way i can prepare for the frys.

 

[pnyklr3]

A pregnant platy gets very plump in the belly when she's pregnant. She will drop her fry 3-4 weeks after you notice she's pregnant. Also, she will be so fat, that she will appear to be square when you look at her from the front or back (and like she's about to burst!) Hope this helps.

I also had some fry sucked into my filter once, but i was lucky enough that they were able to get just below my sponges and live there until I found about 5 of them alive.

 

[sakaspuds]

strange, i find many fry in my filter, but they are always alive, i do tend to check it once a week roughly, maybe yours were in there too long

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

it probably depends on your filter. I have one where the water is poured onto the sponges above the tank, meaning that the fry's die pretty quickly from suffocation.

 

[s6king]

I have an overstocked 10 gallon running with 4 filters whisper bio wheels one under gravel and one sponge. I have not had the problem with fry ending up but them I have a lot of adults in the tank and the babies hide in the plants that I have floating at the top of the tank. I count fry daily to she what is going on. The only problem I really have is the suction hose I use for water chages/gravel cleaning I almost got a few in there a couple of times. I tried the panty hose and my ammonia levels went way up and all the large debris stuck to the outside.

 

[fishluver]

I have so many fish..and alot of fry..and none of my females gives any signs of labor...I look at mt platies alot and when preggo there bellys will get big but about 24 to 48 hours before they have the fry, there lower belly will be bigger than then the top...like the fry has moved down right at the poop hole to be ready to come out. also the poop hole will be puckered out somewhat...

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

I tried the panty hose and my ammonia levels went way up and all the large debris stuck to the outside.

Yeh i was wondering about that happening. Will ask lfs first i think, we dont have a home test kit and only go up about once a week.

Dont think my fish will like a week of amonia burns