Uhm...fry

[MissD]

Hello all!

I recently took some young guppies I'd raised back to the petshop a week or so ago, and this Saturday got myself 6 platies (2 sunset, 2 red tuxedo, 2 yellow tuxedo) with some of my in-store credit, to go in my tanks with the remaining guppies.

I was under the impression that platies, like guppies, have gravid spots so I was happy to see that the ones I'd brought home weren't pregnant.

Yeah, until last night. I found 3 fry swimming in amongst the weeds and, upon further inspection, found two more in a flower pot and 4 more (this morning) down the side of the breeding net I had last night's babies in, hiding from the adult fish.

I'm not entirely sure which female had the babies as there are 5 females and one male (the girl in the shop couldn't sex them as there were too many, so I found out when I got them home what I had) but my red tuxedo female does seem to be thinner. If this is so, is it possible that her gravid spot was "hidden" in the black on her sides, or am I wrong in thinking that platies even have gravid spots? Anyone know?

Oh, so confused, but glad I'm a new mummy again!

 

[OrkyBetta]

Not sure about the gravid spots, as I've never owned any of these fish. Are you sure one of the fish you bought is not male? Did the store you bought them from keep males and females together? I guess your only bet is to wait and see what the fry turn out to be. Kinda fun if you think about it.

 

[afireinside]

The gravid spot isn't always obvious, on my female, you could hardly see it.

 

[Annastasia]

On the colors you mentioned, gravid spots are hard to see. They aren't black. They are usually a few shades darker then the color, or lighter if it's a bright color, so you really have to look. I know on mine, some of which are the colors you mentioned, I have to sit there, and wait for them to get at the right angle so I can see...they aren't like Guppys' which are almost always clearly visible.

Congrats on the babies though!

 

[MissD]

It was definitely the red tuxedo who gave birth, as I watched her have another 10+ babies last night, and possibly one of my sunsets as she looks quite thin now too. I nearly had a heart attack this morning though, when I found mummy tuxedo IN the breeding net with the babies, and was then completely gobsmacked when I realised she hadn't eaten anyone. In my panic I netted her out and released her back into the tank, where she swam straight back to the side of the breeding net and chased away anything that came near her young.

If her belly size is/was anything to go by, it looks like I have another 3-4 batches of fry due any day

 

[Ddraig Goch]

It is very difficult to see the gravid patch with a tuxedo as the sides of the fish are black; you just have to guess by how fat the females are.

Some lighter colour Platys can have an orange/pink gravid patch; this could be the case with your sunsets.

Good luck with the fry.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I've never been able to see the gravid spot on my red wagtail, but she keeps producing the babies.

It is very difficult to see the gravid patch with a tuxedo as the sides of the fish are black; you just have to guess by how fat the females are.

Some lighter colour Platys can have an orange/pink gravid patch; this could be the case with your sunsets.

Good luck with the fry.

[snapback]893208[/snapback]​

 

[paulthegreat]

Even on my orange Swords the gravid patch is a bit hard to see until they are getting real close or going to have a very large batch. On the late great Doris it was quite easy to see but then again she was delivering about 120 fry at a pop. On the late not so great Fiskis II it was very hard to see and even harder to guess when she was going to go, she usually only had 20 or so at a time. It can vary a lot even with females of the same color.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Some lighter colour Platys can have an orange/pink gravid patch; this could be the case with your sunsets.

[snapback]893208[/snapback]​

This can also be the case with the orange and red livebearers which is why the gravid patch is not visible.