Possible pregnant platy?

[minihorses4ever]

I just bought two new platies, and I am now thinking I bought a pregnant female. She looked rather plump at the fish store, but I just figured she ate well or something (I have only ever gotten boys from that store as far as I know). Anyway, I looked online and now I realise she has a gravid spot, so I am almost positive she is pregnant. Anyway, I don't really want to raise any fry at the moment.. Will the babies just be eaten by the other fish in the tank? I have a male guppy, 3 cories, and now 3 platies. Having further searched online, I am pretty sure my current platy is a male, and the other new platy I bought is a female as well.

So, should I be expecting babies, and is there anything I need to do for her? How many babies do these things have at a time?

I can get a picture up if it is wanted.

Thanks!

 

[MissFishy]

If you got it from a fish store, it is highly likely it is pregnant. With that stocking, you might end up with some surviving fry. They can have up to 50 fry at once. If you want to up the chances of them being eaten, cut back on the amount of food you feed the tank.

 

[minihorses4ever]

Thanks! I feel kind of bad doing that to them, but I really can't keep up with that many. I have a few people I could give some to, but I am just worried it is going to happen again. Do you know if the male I currently have and the two females are going to be breeding all the time? I read online that they are easy breeders, but I am hoping they don't have babies all that often. Also, I also read somewhere that some fish places will take fry.. Do you know how common that is? If I could do that, what age do they take them? I am not worried about getting money or anything; just as long as I have a better method of getting rid of the babies rather then them being eaten. Thanks again!

 

[homebunnyj]

They will breed pretty much continuously.

Even if you get rid of your male, female livebearers hold sperm for quite some time, and you can have several broods after the male is gone. If you can't get used to the idea of the fry being eaten, your best bet is to return the females and get males instead. They'll be fine without females and you won't have to deal with fry. If you decide to keep females, maintain a ratio of 2-3 females per male to keep the females from being harassed to death.

 

[minihorses4ever]

Thanks, I have thought about that, but I think I am going to try this first.. I have an aunt that would gladly take the females from me, so that isn't much of a problem.

I have watched my tank some last night and this morning, and it seems like my male platy pretty much wants nothing to do with the females. My male guppy shows some interest every now and then, but the platy hasn't done anything that the guppy has done. What does this mean? Maybe he is still young?

 

[minihorses4ever]

Here are two pictures of her.. How far along do you think she is?

Oh, and will my cories eat the babies? I have 2 skunks about 1.5" long and a pretty big emerald green cory.

 

[MissFishy]

She looks about ready to pop. Within the next week I'd say. No, the corycats won't eat the babies.

 

[minihorses4ever]

Wow, that is sooner than I was expecting.. Well then, hopefully she doesn't have that many because I don't know if all my four fish (Though I do have a buenos aires tetra that I can feed them to as well) will be able to eat them all. Oh, when they are eating them, should I still feed them their regular food? It seems like if they are going to have a lot to eat that I shouldn't be giving them much else because I don't want them eating too much..

Thanks again!

 

[MissFishy]

I would just cut back on the feedings when they are born. Some tanks will gobble fry up, some will just ignore them, depends on your particular fish, so you'll have to wait and see. If they get hungry enough, they'll definitely start hunting out the fry for food. This is what happens in the wild.

 

[minihorses4ever]

I was wondering how big will the fry be? And what color will they be when they are born? Tubby, as I have named her (Atleast for now ) is still starving whenever I feed her and hanging out with her best friend, the other female platy. I also read online that they seem to seperate themselves when they are about ready to go.. Is that true?

Here are some pictures from this morning.. Photographing fish is a hard task!!

 

[MissFishy]

Fry can be hard to spot if you've never seen them before. The best thing to do is to sit down in front of the tank and watch for awhile. Look around the gravel, the plants, the top of the tank and the corners for teenie tiny fish. Once you know what you're looking for, more will become visible. Depending on the livebearer, they can be as small as 1/8 an inch long.

As far as when the female is ready to give birth, it really depends on the fish. I've only ever noticed after the fact. They usually seem to give birth in the morning in my experience.

 

[RexyTexel]

That's a very pretty platy. We don't have platies like that in the fishstores around my area. I'm jealous.

If you know anyone who has a betta, or if you have one, give the fry to them. My bettas love to eat fish fry. I hunt them out of the tanks at work and bring them home as treats. Gets their instincts going because they actually have to hunt their food out.

 

[minihorses4ever]

I have fry!! I saved a few of them in hopes that maybe I can keep one or two. But I am thinking it was my other female that had them because Tubby is still HUGE. The other female had been getting bigger and looks smaller this morning. So what do I feed them? I read online finely crushed flakes.. Will that work?

 

[MissFishy]

Congrats Mini! Take a look at the link in my signature, I have a page on "Raising Fry". Generally, you can crush up some flake food and feed that.