Is my platy pregnant? Please help!

[TheNewKids]

Hey guys,

I just bought 4 platys, two females and two males (we told the lady 3 females and one male but she obviously made a mistake)

Now, my sunset fish looks as though she is pregnant, can anyone please confirm this? And how much longer do you think until she has her fry?

I've got another main community tank but it's not quite ready to put fish into yet, I just don't want all of the fry to get eaten!

The tank they are in now is my breeding tank, it is 40 litres and has a lot of plants so they can hide, however, I read that the fry swim to the top so I'm really not sure what to do! I don't want to use a breeders net because I heard it stresses the mother.

Thank you very much for reading, I look forward to your replies!

 

[Dallascowboys16]

She doesn't look very pregnant yet and it may be another 2-3 weeks till she drops from the looks of it. Just keep an eye on her.

 

[TheNewKids]

She doesn't look very pregnant yet and it may be another 2-3 weeks till she drops from the looks of it. Just keep an eye on her.

She gave birth today whilst I was at school

 

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, when their bellies get boxed up like that it means they are getting within days of dropping.

We're you able to save any fry?

Next time, floating plants would definitely help save them. In my guppy tank I have a ton of trimmings from other tanks that I throw in there and it seems to do a good job at saving them. Things like guppy grass, cabomba, frogbit, water lettuce, duckweed, etc., all do a pretty good job. Also try to keep some planted in the substrate so that after the first few days when they decide to go a bit deeper in search for left overs they'll still have places to hide. My guppies are ruthless in their fry searches so the more plants the better, if you are dead set on saving a good amount of them then try to remove them as soon as you notice them. But after a few months you'll end up regretting you saved so many since they will have more every month.

If you don't keep live plants, plastic/silk will work too. Or even getting a spawn mop, gift wrapping ribbon, yarn, anything really that won't leach dyes and chemicals and is stringy will work at camouflaging them.

Breeding nets are okay to use too, but don't put them in there too long, once they get boxed up start putting them in before bed and While you are away, but let them back out when you can so that they don't get too stressed from being in such a small space. If you do notice the momma getting too stressed then remove her and pray you have enough plants. Better to lose a few babies to being eaten than losing the mom and babies. IMO/E atleast.

 

[TheNewKids]

I did notice a couple hiding when I got home, I'm not sure if they've been eaten - I've had an incredibly stressful hour trying to move them (big platy) around and save the fry!

 

[TheNewKids]

For those interested, I've started a journey thread - I know at least 5 fry survived, so follow along if you wish to!

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/thenewkids-tank-journey-271885.html