Breeding Platies.

[pjos11]

In my tank I have:

Two Platies
Five Cardinals
Four Zebra Danios
I was told that the Platies breed easily. I think mine are in LOVE . When do I know that shes up a duff! When will she explode Also do I panic! 8O .They eat there young so what should I do?

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

First she will get big. Then she will get huge The area above her anus will darken. Timing the delivery is difficult. If you watch really closely, her anal region will square off just before delivery, and she can be placed in a breeder trap. Some fish go nuts if placed in the trap too early. The other option is to have a bunch of frilly, dense, stem plants (like hornwort) including some floaters for the newborns to hide in, until you can scoop 'em out.
Check the F&B -breeding section for more ideas/info.

 

[TomK2]

For the greatest success (highest survival rate of fry) you would need a breeding tank, where the fry have a place to escape predation from larger fish.

http://home.comcast.net/~tomstank/tomstank_files/page0019.htm

But if you don't have a breeding tank option, floating plants that are too dense to allow predation ar the next best. From what I have seen, Platy fry will always prefer hiding spots floating at the surface compared to bottom of the tank. The only time I got them to use cover on the bottom was by removing the floating cover.