HELP! I think my platy is pregnant!

[Chazbot]

Ok, I've been reading other posts and I really think my little Pineapple is pregnant. Here's the deal (will try to get a pic uploaded later) -
-her belly is HUGE like she's gonna pop
-she's active
-good appetite
-pooping is normal
-appearance is great
-there is a dark spot at the back of her belly, reddish and black

So... what do you think? She's been housed with male platys as long as I've had her (6 wks). She lives in my 29 gal (see my sig) with plenty of buddies, the tank is cycled and peaceful.

If she is pregnant, what do I do? I know NOTHING about breeding fish, but I'm willing to learn! I know others in the tank, especially the mollies, will eat the fry. I'd hate to see that happen, I'd like to give the little guys a chance if I can! I have a 10 gallon tank that I could get cleaned up and ready fairly quickly if needed (use water and filter media from the 29, right?), or should I just get one of those breeder boxes?

What do I do with the fry? Feeding? Housing?

Also, while I'm planning on setting up a 45 gal in the near future, I'm planning an Angel and maybe Gouramis in that one. I could put some Chazbot-bred little dudes in there I guess, but what should I do with the others? I've got 3 female platys and 2 female mollies - I'm sure more babies are in my future. How do I deal with... "excess"?
How do I know when Pineapple is going to give birth? Is there a certain behavior to look for? Should I pack her a bag and wait for her to call me and tell me it's time? (har har har)

I really need info and advice here folks!

[rich311k]

Set up the ten. use water and filter media from the main tank to cyclle it right away. Move the girl into the ten. Add floatingplants, plastic is fine. After she births them remove her back to the main. Feed the baies crushed up flakes.

Good luck.

[tetra_danio_girl]

Hee hee.

I went out and got a breeder box today for my platy. Is she all boxy? As in, is she so full, her stomach looks flat on the bottom?

Fry can eat liquid food, reallyreally really curshed up flake food, or nibble on pellets and flakes that have been soaked through (from what I've read).

She'll want to eat when she's done dropping the fries... I mean, dropping her fry (sorry, I'm eating McDonald's right now), so feed her and I'd keep her in the little box for a short while so she can "recover."

If you have two other female platys in the same tank as your males, there's a 99% chance you've got two other pregnant females, if they're of breeding age (which is pretty much a given if you've bought them.)

I put my female in the breeder box today. The behavior she was exhibiting was sitting down in the corner near the plants, trying to get away from everyone. From what people have told me in my "pregnant platy" thread, that's one of the signs that she's ready.

I took some pics of mine - they're in there.

Ooh! Our fishie-mommas will have babies together! Maybe they can share stories of their multiple births...

... or not. :P

[Chazbot]

LOL! Thanks!

So... from my description you both seem to agree that she's pregnant? WICKED COOL!!

Here's a funny - just studying the tank and my female black molly is looking a bit round too. Lord, help me.

If necessary, can the two Mommys share the 10 gal? Would it be ok for the fries (McD's sound good!) to live together?

I'm gonna be a grandma! I'm already a birdy grandma - even a great grandmother! Never thought I'd be a fishy grandma too! My hubby, kngtut181, is sitting here rolling his eyes and trying to act like he doesn't think this is cool. LOL!

[tetra_danio_girl]

*giggles*

It should be fine to keep the fries together (as long as you don't put ketchup in the tank). You might have some survive and others become food, but then again, you don't necessarily want a billion fishies all at once.

I'll let you know when I've got babies, and you let me know when you've got some!!!

^_^

I'm setting up another tank just for my platies here pretty soon. It's going to be my heavily planted one.

[Chazbot]

Will do tetra!

Ok, no ketchup, got it.

How on earth does one tell if a black molly is pregnant or just fat? I dare say I'm not going to see a gravid spot, but she does seem a bit rounder than usual.

[Mith]

(Mith picturing the women sitting around under hair dryers wearing fuzzy slippers chatting away.....)



(Mith sits down next to everyone under his hair dryer and puts his feet up on the foot rest clearly displaying HIS fuzzy slippers)

Hi ladies, MY swordtail's pregnant too.....isn't that just the cat's meow!!!!! anyone got any fabulous cake recipies?

[tetra_danio_girl]

(Mith picturing the women sitting around under hair dryers wearing fuzzy slippers chatting away.....)



(Mith sits down next to everyone under his hair dryer and puts his feet up on the foot rest clearly displaying HIS fuzzy slippers)

Hi ladies, MY swordtail's pregnant too.....isn't that just the cat's meow!!!!! anyone got any fabulous cake recipies?

Oooh! swordtails! How exciting.

Yeah, my fry here look like little clear tadpoles with gigantic alien eyes. I swear they're watching me.

Oh, and I put a couple of ants in the aquarium yesterday and my danios munched them like nobody's business. I think I've found another variety of food for them. :D

Summer in Minnesota=a zillion ants everywhere.

[Kaz]

Well it sounds like you already get this, but your platy is on the 8th month so to speak. She will drop fry very soon.

And in regards to fuzzy slippers...

(kaz sits under his own hair drier despite his hair already being dry.

And while I do have fuzzy slippers, they are on fire... always, so I probably won't wear them here.)

But who wants tea?

I do have a great cake recipe mith, buy a cake mix box and follow the instructions:hmm3grin2orange:

[tetra_danio_girl]

Well it sounds like you already get this, but your platy is on the 8th month so to speak. She will drop fry very soon.

And in regards to fuzzy slippers...

(kaz sits under his own hair drier despite his hair already being dry.

And while I do have fuzzy slippers, they are on fire... always, so I probably won't wear them here.)

But who wants tea?

I do have a great cake recipe mith, buy a cake mix box and follow the instructions:hmm3grin2orange:

heh... I actually have another question for you:

I have another platy who's around 6 months (relatively) by the look of her, and still have fry in the box.

How long should the fry stay in the box, and how hardy are they? I have a tank that has a few danios in it, and it's about 2/3 cycled. The nitrates still need to go down and nitrites balance up a bit. If I put the fy in there, though, they'll turn into daniofood. If I take the danios out, will the fry produce enough waste to continue cycling, and will they survive the difference in chemical make-up of the tank?

[Lilium]

What determines if you can put fry in with other fish, is if they're bigger than the mouths of the other fish. Too big to be eaten, they should be fine (unless the other fish are aggressive/nippy).

The amount of waste produced is fairly relative to the size of the fish. So, if the weight of the fry do not equal that of the Danios, they will not produce enough to maintain the current level of bacteria. However, there would most likely be no spike, because extra bacteria will die off, with enough to support the fry.

And, if you acclimate them properly, they should be able to survive the switch.

I've put baby guppies into a seperate tank no more than hours after they were born, and they didn't die. (I planned on them being eaten, but, they survived, and seem even to be doing well.) But, guppies aren't platies. (They're feeder guppies, by the way, or at least half feeder)

Also, Nitrates do not go down, unless being used by plants, and still would most likely not drop enough. Nitrates need to be removed by water changes. Nitrites are what eventually drop, and get converted into Nitrate. I'm just guessing the words got flipped around.

[Mith]

Oooh! swordtails! How exciting.

Yeah, my fry here look like little clear tadpoles with gigantic alien eyes. I swear they're watching me.

Oh, and I put a couple of ants in the aquarium yesterday and my danios munched them like nobody's business. I think I've found another variety of food for them. :D

Summer in Minnesota=a zillion ants everywhere.


I get ants... occasionally. When they're here, they're plague proportions! LOL... I'll give you a buzz when they show up next time...heh

Well it sounds like you already get this, but your platy is on the 8th month so to speak. She will drop fry very soon.

And in regards to fuzzy slippers...

(kaz sits under his own hair drier despite his hair already being dry.

And while I do have fuzzy slippers, they are on fire... always, so I probably won't wear them here.)

But who wants tea?

I do have a great cake recipe mith, buy a cake mix box and follow the instructions:hmm3grin2orange:


LOL... hey, maybe another chat room? "The salon".... LOL

[Chazbot]

Well I don't have anything to update - no changes with my platy or the molly. IF I'm right and these ladies are expecting, I'd put the platy around 6 or 7 months maybe. She's not as large as pics I've seen of others her size. The molly is just a bit behind her.

Congrats on the babies and the soon to be new swordtail mommy!!

<LOL> Cake and tea sound good!

I'm more of a sock person instead of fuzzy slippers but this all sounds so lovely.

I think we should all be getting pedicures, too, as long as we're under these dryers! LOL!!

[Chazbot]

UPDATE: Well someone in this tank had babies. I don't know who it was because Pineapple, the platy I originally posted about, is still pretty round if maybe a bit smaller. Anyway, we've spotted a couple of fry in one of the plants. The spot they're hiding in is pretty secluded and safe so here's hoping the little dudes make it! They're SO CUTE!!!!

[Kaz]

What is the colour of the fry?

[Gayle]

Cool!!! Congrats!!!!! Got pics????? Fry are soooo cute!!!

[Chazbot]

They're a pale gold. Pineapple is the same color, very pale yellow - almost transparent! - with her Mickey Mouse head on her tail.

Unhappily I haven't seen the little dudes at all today. :scry: I'm really concerned because I did see a couple of the adult fish very close to where the fry were hiding. I'm still looking in hopes that they're still in there, though!

I did get a shot of a little dude, though! Just his little head peeking out from behind a leaf. I hope I've attached it correctly!

[Gayle]

Awe that is a cute pic!!!!! I hope they did not all get eaten. Do you have a breeder box?

[Chazbot]

Awe that is a cute pic!!!!! I hope they did not all get eaten. Do you have a breeder box?

This is my first look at fry and they are just so cute!!!

Unhappily I didn't get Mom to the breeder box before she gave birth. I've got one, though, and will be ready next time!

I still haven't seen the little guy at all. I know - nature is nature, but I'm still bummed. And I believe the Lord will give me the critters I'm meant to have. I'm thinking that maybe this has been His way of letting me know to pay closer attention to my scaly girls since they've got all those fellas in there with them.