Are Some of my Platys Pregnant?

[*Sarah*]

What do you think?
][Only Registered Users Can See Links.] ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.)
][Only Registered Users Can See Links.] ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.)
][Only Registered Users Can See Links.] ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.)


And this is my 40 Gallon Tank :)
][Only Registered Users Can See Links.] ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.)

[cocoa_pleco]

maybe.. mine look like yours, and i think one of mine is pregnant

[Incredulous_Ed]

Maybe. Or they could just be over eating. I heard platys can get really fat
Edit: I just noticed this is my 666th post! I feel the devil taking over!

[kimmers318]

When you have female platy that have had contact with males you most likely get pregnant females. Platy can store sperm and allow it to fertilize their eggs for I believe 4-6 months after one mating so they can pop babies whenever they feel like it. They are livebearers and you will probably soon see little miniature platy swimming around. Enjoy!

[Sasquatch]

From what I can see, they're just well fed.

Check out your females and if they have a dark spot/area behind their stomachs, that's how you can tell they're pregnant.

As kimmer said, if you have both sexes in there, it shouldn't take long.

[Lady Hobbs]

Could be but my 4 (now two) looked the same way. All were very fat.

[*Sarah*]

Ok, well all I can do is wait and see I guess. I don't know about the dark "gravid" spot, I'm new at this. I'm not even totally sure which is male or female. There's one there that I'm pretty confident is a male, but I figure out of 5 there has to be at least one of each, male and female.

[Sasquatch]

To tell apart the boys and the girls, look at the anal fin. (The unpaired fin on the bottom of the fish). If it's a regular(ish) triangle shape it's a female. If it has a part that sticks out of the triangle, it's a male.

If you do think one (or more) of your females is pregnant, start feeding high protein food (bloodworms are good). This will ensure healthy babies and healthy mothers. If the mothers aren't in good shape, they can die after giving birth.

[*Sarah*]

To tell apart the boys and the girls, look at the anal fin. (The unpaired fin on the bottom of the fish). If it's a regular(ish) triangle shape it's a female. If it has a part that sticks out of the triangle, it's a male.

If you do think one (or more) of your females is pregnant, start feeding high protein food (bloodworms are good). This will ensure healthy babies and healthy mothers. If the mothers aren't in good shape, they can die after giving birth.

Ok, Thanks Sasquatch! 1 male and 4 females (that's gotta be one happy boy!). So, I geuss I'll prob end up with a LOAD of babies (or shall I call them, free fish food for the rest of the tank?). They are very common Platys so I doubt they'd be in high demand at my LFS.

I feed them bloodworms a few times a week. I give them flakes, bloodworms, tubifex worms, spirulina flakes, and sometimes have them pick at a shrimp pellet or algae wafer.

[Sasquatch]

Ok, Thanks Sasquatch! 1 male and 4 females (that's gotta be one happy boy!). So, I geuss I'll prob end up with a LOAD of babies (or shall I call them, free fish food for the rest of the tank?). They are very common Platys so I doubt they'd be in high demand at my LFS.

I feed them bloodworms a few times a week. I give them flakes, bloodworms, tubifex worms, spirulina flakes, and sometimes have them pick at a shrimp pellet or algae wafer.

More like lucky girls. It's usually recommended that you have at least a 3:1 ratio (F:M) otherwise the male will pester the females too much. We have the same thing in our tank (4F:1M), though I think our male is a little shy, we only have one pregnant female so far.

As for what you're feeding them, that's fine. Good variety and some high protein stuff.

Regarding the babies, ask the LFS if they're interested, you can often exchange them for store credit or something. If not, you'll have to find a way to keep the population under control. We bought a small catfish to eat up the fry since we don't want our 10g getting too crowded. We already have three young platies swiming around that we'll have to do something about if the cafish doesn't eat them soon.

[*Sarah*]

I've got Mollies, Guppies, Neons, and a Weather Loach in there with the Platys, so hopefully some of them will take care of the fry. It sounds so cruel...

[cocoa_pleco]

its not cruel. What happens in the wild?? Babies naturally get eaten. But, if you want, keep em.

I kinda think feeding feeder fish is cruel.
First, that fish could be a well loved pet, but no, its someones food.
And the feeder conditions are pure crap.
One lfs has their feeder tank in a back room, and someone left a door open, and the water was PITCH black, and you could see the glimmer of goldfish a bit sometimes

[*Sarah*]

Eww that's nasty. My lfs has A LOT of feeders in a tank, but it's not black, that's just gross.

[cocoa_pleco]

it was PURE gross.

Most stores feeder tanks are a bit brown, not black

[Incredulous_Ed]

that's pretty disgusting. Not to mention that alot of feder fish have tons of diseases on them

[Chrona]

You guys would be pretty appalled at the conditions that the chickens and cows you eat are kept in. I have a friend who works as a manager in the meat industry, and has all kinds of horror stories. I certainly don't condone such activity, but in the end, it boils down to money. I talked to a few guys at my LFS and they make little to no money on their livestock section. It is merely a way to get people into the store so they can buy a 10 cent feeder, along with a 10 gallon tank setup with a 200% markup. So from a strictly business standpoint, it's not economical to provide the appropriate space and living environments for the fish (They actually lose money on alot of the fish), because of the HUGE upfront cost of the tank system, the daily maintenance, electricity, water consumption, food, etc, etc. So while the tank conditions look appalling, keep in mind it's no different than any major farm around the world.

Again, I'm just playing devil's advocate and don't condone the mistreatment of animals, so don't hurt me.

[cocoa_pleco]

frick, we watched a food poisining video for biology, ITS SO FU*KIN CRAMMED THE CHICKENS CANT MOVE!

its absolutely disgusting.

Its sad, but in canada, our cows can have up to once foot of crap in the trailer if we ship cattle, but americans have to have crap free trailers.

What the heck is the gov.t thinking here? 1 foot of crap?
And theres crap allover the beef when it goes to the slaughter house

[Incredulous_Ed]

You know, If my brother was reading this, he would say something like "Yum! Makes me want to eat hamburgers more than ever!"
He's pretty disgusting that way

[Chrona]

You know, If my brother was reading this, he would say something like "Yum! Makes me want to eat hamburgers more than ever!"
He's pretty disgusting that way

Take him on a field trip to a slaughterhouse. I guarantee you he'll be a vegetarian by the next day.

[cocoa_pleco]

Take him on a field trip to a slaughterhouse. I guarantee you he'll be a vegetarian by the next day.


After that fieldtrip, UGH.

I can only eat meat if i dont think where it comes from now. seriously

[cocoa_pleco]

im seriously gong to pi$$ myself over your avatar chrona! lol