Why No Babies?

[FishySarah]

Hi. I'm new to this forum, and to fishkeeping in general. I have a tank stocked with the following:

3 mollies, one male, two female
2 platys, one male one female
4 black longfin tetras
4 fish that are some kind of tetras, I don't know which one (long story)
6 neon tetras
1 chinese algae eater
1 oto

I have had my mollies and platys for four months - no pregnancies until now. Is it because its such an new tank, or am I doing something wrong? My mollies seem healthy, but I have no salt in the water. Your article says its not good for tetras. Could I just put in a little salt, or should I try to save up for another tank? I could buy a 20 gallon, but I'd have to save up for a few months for a nice stand and all extras it needs. Will they be ok until then?

I think my platy is pregnant. She has a really swollen belly, and at first I thought she was sick, but she seems to be acting normal. Can't tell if there's a gravid spot, because I don't really know what one looks like. I have her isolated in a breeding net with some java moss. If I have platy fry, can I house them in a breeding net for a little while, or do I need to put them in my betta's five gallon tank? (I could move the betta into a bowl temporarily - he'll hate me for it, but he'll be ok) I don't plan on keeping many of the fry, but a local pet store said they'd take them. Don't know if they'll give me store credit or not, but I feel good about fish I nurtured going to new homes. However, they won't take them until they are grown. I have never had baby fish before. BTW, my tank is 29 gallons, so it is pretty much stocked as much as it can be.

I'm fighting the temptation to camp out by my tank and watch the platy all night long. She is yellow and her mate is orange, so I don't know what color the babies will be, if there are babies.

 

[Guppyboy_12]

hey,

i dont think theres anything wrong they might just be getting used to the tank a gravid spot is a dark spot at the end of the body, it'll get darker further into the pregnancy. with the fry you can leave them in the net if you want but it'll stunt their growth a bit, if u want to you can move them to the tank, they would proberly like it in there better anyway lol.

Good Luck

Sam

 

[dwarfgourami]

Seeing the gravid spot on a platy can be really difficult depending on colour.

Keeping the female platy in the breeding net can be a bad idea, as she may get stressed out if she hasn't got a lot of room to move. Better might be to let her give birth in the tank and then net any babies out and put them in the breeding net. You can keep them in there for a week or two without stunting their growth, and young platies do grow up quite a bit in the first few weeks. Add floating plants in the tank for them to hide in.