Brotherly love?

[Achtemichuk]

I have two spotted platies that I've raised since babies. I could swear they're both male but the larger one follows the smaller one around to the point of exhaustion, infact the smaller ones back looks bent which hopefully isn't from it trying to get away. Anyways, I purchased 2 females to try to distract the attention but it seems to only make the larger male more protective of his friend. Any suggestions on how I can give my fish a break? They've got rocks to hide in and females to chase, but it seems to be doing no good. Thanks

 

[Cichildlife]

Could u post pics of the two original ones

 

[Shetland James]

Buy a breeder net and put one in to give the other a rest for a few days. Then the remaining one will chase the females.

 

[Achtemichuk]

Pictures

Sorry, I've been away from internet at my cabin the last while, but here's some pictures of the two original fish, the smaller one almost seems pregnant (or maybe just bloated) and another of the females - displayed at the top in the first picture looks like she's pregnant too - dark spot above the fin and all. However, I'm still marveled on whether the smaller dotted platy is a male or not!
Thanks for the advice James, I do have a breeder net but it's currently occupied by a few remaining fry I was able to fish out a month earlier, do you think a second net would crowd the other fish too much? My tank is only a 20 gallon.

 

[Cichildlife]

yes, the smaller one, lower right, is a female and above her is a male, yes id believe she is pregnant. you can tell by the anal fin, males are pointed as shown in your first pics well, and your third pics, shows hers along with her defiant belly! good luck hope this helps.

 

[Achtemichuk]

ahh good! That makes me feel much better too that my female to male ratio is a bit better now as well. Thanks for your help, hopefully I'll be posting pictures of the new fry in the upcoming weeks

 

[Cichildlife]

good luck, though im not sure how far long she is, the way you tell is they looked square-ish in her stomach, kinda like this:

also, they all don't look like this(can clearly see eyes)
most look like this:

Sorry if the pics don't work, you can easily find the pics on Google, just search 'Pregnant Platy'
hope this helps.

 

[Achtemichuk]

This was my 2 fish about 2 months ago, she had to have been pregnant then, but it was just before I purchased the other females. Her 'swelling' subsided a bit the next day, but soon after I left for 10 days and when I returned I spotted 5 remaining fry. Assuming I had just bought an already pregnant female, I never thought much more about it, but in the time she was so big I thought she might blow. I guess when she gets to this point again I'll know what's up. Do you have any suggestions on types of plants to get for the fry to hide in? I'm always a bit intimated by plants for chances of disease or just stressing out the fish, but I'm sure there's safe ways to adjust them to the change. Thanks!

 

[Rinzy]

Honestly, to me that fish looks like a male with dropsy

 

[Achtemichuk]

That fish is no longer 'rounded' so if it was a dropsy i assume it self-cured. And yeah I'm still torn on whether it's male or female, I guess if he/she rounds out again I'll just have to keep a close eye

 

[Rinzy]

It's a male - you can tell by the back fin. Males have a longer pointed fin that is usually tucked against the body - females have more of a sail shaped fin. You can really see it in this picture you took - I also attached a pic of my pregnant female so you can see the difference

 

[Achtemichuk]

That's what I originally thought, he/she just has a really odd behavior with the other male that makes me second guess it. I did raise these two originally as fry though whereas my other two platys (female) are recent additions (1 and a half month) I'm just worried about the amount of stress the larger male puts on the other.

 

[Rinzy]

Regardless, he is a male.