Pregnant Platy

[Botanica]

Hi there...I'm hoping someone can tell me about how far away from delivery she might be? She was acting strange and being harassed by a male so bad that I put her in the breeder...but I don't want to make her stressed...any advice would be great! Thanks!

[derail]

Would you be able to get a few more pictures, particularly of her vent? Gravid spot doesn't appear too large (then again she is highly sunburst-pretty for that matter too), but I could be wrong. 'Tis normal for males to harass the females for breeding of course lol. What kind of ratio do you have, males to females? Also, what are the parameters, out of curiosity?

From this pic, she seems in early stages of pregnancy if pregnant, but maybe someone with a better eye will say otherwise.

[Botanica]

I got a few more pictures...tho she isn't being very cooperative...lol. I can't catch her from just the right angle.
Tank parameters:
240 gallon tank
Males-4. Females-10 (assorted colors and sizes)
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10
pH-8
As you can imagine, it is hard to find or even see fry in a tank this size. We have noticed platys getting fatter...then shrinking again a few times before and suspect that the fry have been eaten or sucked into the filter. They have been in the tank for about two months.

Thanks for such a quick reply!

[derail]

Whew that is quite a tank for Platy's! You keeping only platys in there? Off topic, i know. So anyway...she does seem to have a little girth, but I'm going to say that she's in very early stages of pregnancy, and shouldn't need to be in the breeder trap. Honestly, if you could add some floating plants to that tank she'll have some natural places to retreat. If you don't go with plants (live), plastic plants can be used, just pull them from the base, get a piece of Styrofoam, connect and let it float! I did it for my guppy's, molly's and platys so the fry could have places to hide.
I imagine you have a pretty good filter on that tank so it is possible the fry get sucked into the filter.

If she continues to get bigger and that dark spot near her vent (your third pic was great in that regard) continues to darken and get bigger, move her back to the trap in about three weeks (they give birth about once a month).

[Botanica]

Ok...thanks! What seems weird is that she seems to have gotten smaller since I've put her in there...but I don't see how. I have pics of her just before I caught her and she looks bigger...lol. The tank has a Fluvel FX5 filter...so yeah it is pretty strong. The platys share the tank currently with a large assortment of community fish:

5 Turquoise rainbowfish, 2 dwarf neon rainbowfish, 5 Buenos Aries tetra, 4 white skirt tetra, 3 black skirt tetra, 6 red minor tetra, 3 mollies, 3 cories, 3 pleco, 3 angelfish, and one male dwarf gourami.

Here is the pic of her before going into the breeder...

[derail]

I have an idea of what happened. Food Baby. Lol. A molly of mine looks like a balloon belly sometimes because she's so darn greedy; could have been what happened with your platy-she eats a ton, gets a little big and then digests it!
Tank looks great, and you've got some very good looking fish.

[sheilak]

yeah angels like babbys too they really like babys

[emerald76]

I'd remove the center divider in the trap at least

[Botanica]

Oh she's out...long ago. Thanks for all the help!

[DancesWithEwoks]

Originally Posted by Botanica

Oh she's out...long ago. Thanks for all the help!

When she's gonna be days away from giving birth she's gonna be very calm, hiding and not moving so much. I do agree with others, she looks early pregnant but not yet. I love baby plattys!!

[Botanica]

Thanks...she was WAY fatter when she went in there and was acting strange. I guess she's just a little piggy...lol.