Mickey Mouse Platy

[preciousmoments]

HI everyone,
I ordered a book on platies but it hasn't arrived yet and I think my female is going to have fry soon. The problem is I don't know how to tell for sure and I am not entirely sure what to do. We want to raise a few for educational reason for our kids and plan on giving all extras to friends and family when they are big enough. I have purchased a breeding net. Should i set it up and contain my female or should i wait and see what happens. I am very new at this but am interested in learning so i am able to teach my children.
Thanks,
Cristina

[platylover]

I wouldn't put the female in the breeder net yet. If she is not ready to give birth, putting her in too soon will stress her and she could abort the pregnacy. You will tell when she is about to give birth because she will get impossibly huge and will start hiding a lot.

I just let my females give birth in the main tank and when I notice that she is not quite as big around as she was the day before, I will do a water change and vacuum the gravel into a small bucket. I will then slowly scoop out the water and check the bottom of the bucket with a flashlight and scoop out the fry that was sucked up in the gravel vac. I probably don't get all the fry that are in the tank, but I sure do find quite a few of them.

[acronym:bcb9f58975="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:bcb9f58975]!

[preciousmoments]

Ok I will try that. I like that idea better then the breeding net. Thank you for the info.

[TankGirl]

Make sure there are plenty of places for her and her fry to hide, like bushy fake or real plants, and do not be surprised if she eats some of them. Good luck!

[preciousmoments]

I have another question as i have never had or seen what the babies look like.
What do they look like? How big will they be? Are they hard to spot with a flashlight like the above suggestion? I really have no idea and my book isn't here yet should be sometime this week.

[TankGirl]

They look like perfect miniatures of the adults. Depending upon how soon you see them, they can be as small as 4-5mm. No matter how often my crew have fry, it is always exciting!

[PlatyLady]

I have a pic of baby sunset platies in my gallery, unfortunately it's not very clear. Have you seen any pics of guppy fry? They look kind of similar. Another forum member, Mattrox, has an excellent pic of guppy fry I believe.

As for a description, they are tiny! Mine have looked almost like just a pair of big black eyes with a transparent tail. Their bright orange colour came pretty quickly, so keep an eye out for teeny specks of colour. They can be hard to spot, even when you know what you're look for. Mine have usually gone straight for the gravel as soon as they're born, so that's a starting place. They're great little hiders, so it's easiest to find them if they're moving (look for a little speck moving out of the corner of your eye, and sure enough that's where they'll be). Also, the gravel vac trick definitely works, as platylover described. You'll see gunk traveling up the vac tube, and the little fry desperately trying to swim against the current.

Ok, I'm doing two things at once here and I'm feeling incoherent, so I better stop...

[preciousmoments]

Thank you for the info I was worried i might have missed them butby the looks of your pregnant platy she hasn't had them yet. I will keep a sharp look out for them. I am nervous about not finding them before they all get eaten and my four year old is looking forward to the new arrivals. She wants to name one after her baby sister who will arrive in about three more months. thank you so much it has been very helpful.

[preciousmoments]

was able to catch at least twelve babies this afternoon on the way to store to buy baby brine shrimp. Daughter very excited! Thank you! Geez they are small.

[platylover]

Congrats on the new additions!! They are very small and cute as a button. Keep an eye out for at least the next couple of days for any fry that might have gotten away from you. If you have plenty of hiding places in the tank for them to survive, then there is bound to be a few more still in there. Another trick that I use is to wait until it is almost time to go to bed and shut the tank lights and the lights off in the room to make the tank pretty dark. Then wait about a half hour and with a flashlight, look up toward the surface of the water and you just might see a few fry hanging out up there. If you try this method, you will have to be quick. They are fast little guys!

Anyway, congrats again on the fry and good luck with your new arrival that is soon to come!

-Jim