Pregnant or bloated?

[mrsaltmiller]

I need help determining of my Mickey Mouse Platy fish is pregnant or bloated. I bought a male and female on 11/26, so just over 4 weeks ago, then added a female panda platy shortly after. It seems to me like the female Mickey Mouse fish has become a lot larger but I don't see a gravid spot. I've seen her poop a few times in the past couple of days so I'm not sure if its bloat. I've also noticed that her gills are becoming darker, not sure if that has anything to do with pregnancy or not. The male still follows her around everywhere. She doesn't seem to be acting much differently. I'm attaching photos (the best I can get since they move so fast.) The yellow one is the female, male is orange. I'm very new to all of this so thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Delapool]

Hi, did the photo's attach your end? Can't see them here. If the scales look ruffled / pine- coned then it may be bloat.

 

[mrsaltmiller]

It don't see any ruffling or coat on her scales. I've attached the pictures to this post.

 

[Delapool]

Looks pregnant to me. Is the top fin still up and fish otherwise ok?

If you have the space I would also go for a ratio of 4 female to 1 male. I know 2:1 is commonly suggested, I find a higher ratio works better for small schools.

 

[mrsaltmiller]

Yes, her top fin is up. All other fish appear to be healthy.

 

[Delapool]

Sounds good, I'd say not far off from a bunch of fry.

 

[mrsaltmiller]

So this morning I noticed that the male platy was harassing the pregnant(?) female, chasing her everywhere around the tank, trying to rub on her, and it looked like she was trying to get him to stop but he wouldn't. Now, for the past couple of hours, she has been hiding at the very top of the tank behind the filter. Is this normal?

 

[Delapool]

Yes I'm afraid so for the male mating at any opportunity. Frankly rabbits could take lessons. Unfortunately the harassment is pretty constant. In nature the females can escape a bit but in a tank options are limited. Putting her in a breeding net or more females are a couple of options.

 

[Angela1108]

I agree- your going to have grand baby fish soon


For the harassing like someone else said adding more females would help or moving her to another tank/breeding net. Also adding more plants for more hiding spots should help too


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[mrsaltmiller]

Now, she's come out of hiding and is swimming around again. I have no clue what to expect at this point lol. It's confusing

I have 2 other female platys in there - but they were added after the pregnant fish and the male - the male doesn't have any interest in the other 2 females, but they are smaller so I was wondering if that had something to do with their age?

I have some floating plants at the top of the tank, which I read were good for the fry and I also have some on the bottom, along with some other plants and structures for hiding.

 

[Delapool]

The males can fixate on one female I've found but could be age as well if others are younger.

Plants are good. I had a floating water sprite they could escape into.

Is she still same size?

 

[mrsaltmiller]

She seems slightly bigger to me, but i've been staring at this fish for 2 days now so... lol.

Here are 2 new pictures I took yesterday. Maybe it's easier to tell now if she's really pregnant?

 

[Delapool]

Looks pregnant to me. Looks good in second pic. When they get squared off like a tank (um, must be some technical term I don't know), then very close.

 

[mrsaltmiller]

Awesome! Should I be doing anything differently for her? Keeping the tank lights off or anything?

 

[Delapool]

That's a really good question. Depends on the harassment from the male. You can put her in a breeder net if harassment is bad, particularly if you want to keep some fry. Could be a few weeks in there so a little extra work.

I put a small Molly in a small tank a few months back, waited forever to get a few fry to keep and got 18 instead (don't know where she kept them) which I think I'll keep some and sell some or something.

Otherwise in a tank with hiding places and quiet spots I just let them go. As mentioned I go for a high F:M ratio. Plants and algae are good for diet and also I get fish food suitable for live bearers which is generally high in spirulina. For me it probably makes no difference as the fish get such a healthy diet of a variety of plants that I buy ...

 

[mrsaltmiller]

I've read that breeder nets or tanks can be really stressful on the fish. I was just going to keep her in the tank and hope a few fry survive. I bought the floating plants and other bushy plants for the bottom of the tank for fry hiding spots.

 

[Angela1108]

That's what I do with my guppies- tons of floating plants and kinda let them do their thing. Some make it and some don't. The more plants and stuff the more will survive
Personally I don't like the breeding nets either


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[Delapool]

True, true - I may have been a bit biased as well as my breeding net pens are about 2/3 of a foot by 2/3 of a foot (20cm x 20cm). All depends on the harassment as well.

 

[mrsaltmiller]

Ok so today she started hiding in one of the little house things I have for them, then she swam around with the other fish, came out to eat, and now she's sitting at the top of the tank between the filter and heater. She's been sitting there quite a while, will swim away then swim back. Is this anything I need to be concerned about? P.S. I think she look squared off...does she? She's huge!