Pregnant platy...help
- Thread starter Beccalou1992
- Start date
It is obvious to tell which female guppies are pregnant as they will have an obvious black "gravid" spot which is the fry's eyes forming inside the mother, this will form just in front of her anal fin. For platies the only way to tell how far into the pregnancy the fish is, is by seeing how fat they are, platies which are about to spawn will seem almost square from the back view and will be very swollen in the middle. Be sure to keep your aquarium clean and change about 25% of the water in your aquarium at least once a week. Feed your platies plenty of floating flakes and some live food as well to supplement their diet and give them larger and more healthy offspring. As always remove any uneaten food after 5 minutes.
When your female is big and looks like she’s about to (burst) release babies there is the option to move her into another aquarium or put her into a net breeder protect her babies when they spawn, it should be noted that the mother for approximately 12 hours after releasing the babies has a surge of a hormone which results in her not being hungry. While this is an option the difficulty is that often I have found that if I move the female too early she will abort the pregnancy due to stress, the same may happen if you buy a heavily pregnant fish from the fish store and yet you find no babies in your tank. For this reason I have found - perhaps because fry especially from livebearers are no longer unusual or special I just leave the adults in my community tank which has a planted corner. I have found that even without removing the babies into an external aquarium/net breeder you'll get some babies which make it to adult hood. I have also found the use of large marbles on the floor of the tank to be superb as hiding places for the fry, even so if I wish to save some interesting colour fry or need more fry then I follow the following procedure.
Aid the Fry: A net breeder is a must if you wish to save large numbers of fry. Simply place it in a corner of the tank when one of the females has already spawned or place the female in it just before she spawns. Either way ensure the fry are the only fish inside the net. As a rough guide, a young female platy/guppy/molly usually releases 12 to 30 babies in her first batch of young. I highly recommend you to purchase a "net breeder" made out of mesh rather than a plastic one as I have heard too many bad reports about them and my net breeder has worked flawlessly for me (plastic ones babies escape/get eaten or trapped!) The net breeder has a frame made of plastic and is covered in fine net to separate the fry inside the net from the larger fish swimming around in the aquarium.
Reference: Tropical Fish - Breeding Guppies mollies and other livebearers
When your female is big and looks like she’s about to (burst) release babies there is the option to move her into another aquarium or put her into a net breeder protect her babies when they spawn, it should be noted that the mother for approximately 12 hours after releasing the babies has a surge of a hormone which results in her not being hungry. While this is an option the difficulty is that often I have found that if I move the female too early she will abort the pregnancy due to stress, the same may happen if you buy a heavily pregnant fish from the fish store and yet you find no babies in your tank. For this reason I have found - perhaps because fry especially from livebearers are no longer unusual or special I just leave the adults in my community tank which has a planted corner. I have found that even without removing the babies into an external aquarium/net breeder you'll get some babies which make it to adult hood. I have also found the use of large marbles on the floor of the tank to be superb as hiding places for the fry, even so if I wish to save some interesting colour fry or need more fry then I follow the following procedure.
Aid the Fry: A net breeder is a must if you wish to save large numbers of fry. Simply place it in a corner of the tank when one of the females has already spawned or place the female in it just before she spawns. Either way ensure the fry are the only fish inside the net. As a rough guide, a young female platy/guppy/molly usually releases 12 to 30 babies in her first batch of young. I highly recommend you to purchase a "net breeder" made out of mesh rather than a plastic one as I have heard too many bad reports about them and my net breeder has worked flawlessly for me (plastic ones babies escape/get eaten or trapped!) The net breeder has a frame made of plastic and is covered in fine net to separate the fry inside the net from the larger fish swimming around in the aquarium.
Reference: Tropical Fish - Breeding Guppies mollies and other livebearers
Female live bearers will have a gravid spot if they have mature eggs, regardless of if they are fertilized yet or not. The spot is not 'eyes' of fry.
I have seen many live bearers eat fry as they are giving birth. The '12 hour appetite supressant after giving birth' is a myth.
I would also recommend that if a net is used to hold fry that a small amount of gravel be put in the bottom if there are fish swimming outside the net. Adult fish can kill and eat fry thru the net when they rest on the bottom.
I have seen many live bearers eat fry as they are giving birth. The '12 hour appetite supressant after giving birth' is a myth.
I would also recommend that if a net is used to hold fry that a small amount of gravel be put in the bottom if there are fish swimming outside the net. Adult fish can kill and eat fry thru the net when they rest on the bottom.
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