is this platy pregnant?

[xystizi]

Hi,

Could someone tell me if this platy is pregnant? I have her with a male cherry platy and I am not sure if they could breed together. I think she looks pregnant but not sure how far along is she. The male has been harassing her more lately and I don't really know why. If she is pregnant, would you be able to tell me how many more days before she drops fry?

Thanks.

 

[colematthewmalaka]

She looks pregnant. I'd say in about a week she'll have them put her in a breeding separator because it's kind of hard to tell when she'll pop.

 

[xystizi]

I bought a tank divider and separated the female from the male. Would this stress out my pregnant female platy? How long can I keep her separated without causing health problems? I don't want to put her in a breeder box because I've read about some females aborting the fry.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

My fish have had 1 platy fry, 20 guppy fry, 28 molly fry, and 40+ swordtail fry. I found the platy fry purely by accident when cleaning the tank, I'm guessing he was the survivor.

I caught almost all the mollies being born on tape. All others happened when I wasn't watching. The were all born in a 10g bare tank w/sponge filter & heater with a big clump of hornwort thrown in there so the fry can hide from the mama fish.

The tank separator is a good idea as far as keeping the male/female apart, but I would go to an LFS and get a good-sized clump of hornwort (it's cheap) and throw it in on both sides, 'cause the fry are so small right after they're born they're hard to see & easy for the big fish to eat - in fact, the only way I know when my fish dropped their babies is that they are noticeably thinner, then I have to search for the fry - always hiding in the hornwort. They feed off of it too.

It is a good idea to soak the plants in an Alum solution to kill off any hitchhiking snails/eggs and/or diseases, I read about doing that on some other thread, 3 teaspoon Alum to 1 gallon of water, soak for 3 hours.

Here I found the thread, look to the bottom

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/so-many-snails-and-how-114930.html

 

[colematthewmalaka]

platy fry are cool they grow slow but if you leave for a few days and come back they'll look like giants. lol

 

[xystizi]

I've taken off the divider since she seemed so lonely by herself but I have introduced two female platies that I have quarantined for 6 weeks into the main tank, hoping that the male chase after them instead. However, it seems that theory didn't work well as he still keeps chasing after my blue platy and does the annoying darting thing, almost bumping into her so many times. He looks like he chases the other females away. Grrrr.. What is he possibly thinking? Is this behavior normal? As there is now 3 to 1 ratio, he should be getting ON with the other 2 females, right?

 

[thatmagicguy]

Male livebearers are very attracted to females that are about to give birth. After they have their young the males are especiallly eager to mate with these females. If you want fry to survive you need to have this female in a tank by herself with bunches of fine-leaved plants. Platys are notorious for holding on to young well past the standard "gestation" period. Sometimes it can get frustrating waiting.

 

[colematthewmalaka]

don't move the female to much. This is the main reason they abort fry.

 

[xystizi]

I'm more concerned about the mother platy than getting fry at this point. I haven't moved her or taken her out of the tank except for gently guiding her to the other side of the divider which I have taken out. Would you advise to put the divider back with just her on one side? Or can I have the other females with her so she won't get lonely on the other side? I am afraid of the male stressing her so much.

 

[thatmagicguy]

Well then if you can securely divide her she will be fine. Fish don't get "lonely" and the male following her and trying to breed with her is stressful. In the wild or in larger tanks and pools fish that are close to giving birth try and find a quieter or more accurately a more secluded spot to give birth. If you divide her then put some plants in there so the babies at least have a chance. And then move her back on the other side once she has given birth. Platys are less sensitive about disruption near birth than mollies are but the last poster was correct in that they need to be moved as little as possible as birthing approaches.

 

[mgamer20o0]

with out even looking i will say yes. find me a pic of a female platy with a male that isnt and ill be very impressed.

 

[xystizi]

12 days later, still no fry. Her belly is still rounded. She's behaving normal. The male has stopped stalking her the day after my last post although he occasionally still lurks around her. I do water changes everyday and siphon off the water into a bucket so any chance of fry being thrown away is nil. As I've said the belly hasn't gotten any smaller nor does it seem to get bigger except after meal times. Has she probably aborted? Or is she still pregnant or was she pregnant in the first place? :? As one of the replies said, the wait does get frustrating...

 

[d1anonly22]

shes probably still pregnant, make sure you keep them well feed so when she does pop theres less of a chance of the others wanting to eat the fry. havent breed plattys since i was younger but my mollies never eat the fry and im pretty sure its do to the fact theres a lot of decour plants, and there always well feed, my silver molly actualy just popped last night at 1 in the morning lucky i was up drink a few beers and i look at my fish more when im buzzed for some reason so i got lucky and noticed her giving birth.

 

[xystizi]

I'm running out of ideas. The male has started stalking the blue platy again yesterday. I've tried to get her into a breeder's box ( see pictures ) but she hated it so much she flails in it, so I let her loose once more. From the pictures,

you could see the sides have some bulge which seems to indicate pregnancy.

Here is another pic taken today. Compared with the pic I posted at the start, they didn't seem to have changed... I wanted to see what her fry would look like if she's actually pregnant but I'm not so sure whether she's even pregnant given the # of days that's passed since I first posted.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Usually the gestation period for Platies is about 6 weeks. I wouldn't worry too much, she'll drop them eventually. I would go back to using the tank divider and not worry about her being lonely, maybe put the females all on one side & male on the other. Turn the temp up to 80F, and if you don't have live plants, add some aquarium salt, 1 tsp per gallon, platies like that.

 

[d1anonly22]

yeah the aquarium salt is good for them, actually my molly popped when i did a 25 percent water change and added some aquarium salt. make sure you scoop out some the the tanks water in a cup and dissolve the salt in there first because they may try and eat it if you just put it in there and thats not good for them.

 

[xystizi]

I do add aquarium salt with every water change ( dissolved in the pre-conditioned water ) at 1 tsp per gallon and I do 10% water changes everyday. I've put the divider back and she's sharing the space with non-male fish. It's like she's pregnant forever...

 

[d1anonly22]

yeah the wait can really suck sometimes, just be patient and it will happen. i really dont think there is much else you can do.

 

[mgamer20o0]

why add salt? what are you trying to treat?

 

[d1anonly22]

you dont have to be trying to treat anything its good to have a little in there and it helps prevent the need to treat anything.