Pregnant Platy

[raeven]

Okay, so I have a few questions that I'm hoping to find answers for soonish.

I just picked up a platy from the store maybe an hour ago, and they told me she is currently pregnant. The only problem I have with this right now is that this would be my frist batch of fry ever, so I want to get things right.

I'm wondering if anyone could tell me of any tell-tale signs that would tell me to put her in a breeding divider. I have no idea how far along she is, so I don't want to stress her out but putting her in there too early or anything, but I don't want to accidently wait too long, either. Also, how long does the whole pregnancy period last for? I'm not going to be able to seperate her for another week.

[Pamela]

Her belly will get really square shaped right before she gives birth.

[raeven]

Excellent! That is very handy to know, so I'll be sure to give that a shot and hopefully this will all work out as planned. Thanks a bunch!

[stonedaquarium]

I have 4 platys that are currently pregnant right now. They are a really easy fish to handle if you just want to have a try at breeding you can just leave the mom in the tank itself. you can get a divider if you want but its not really needed. what i did was just leave the pregnant fish in the tank and provided a good amount of plant cover to provide cover and hiding places for the fry. having some java moss really helps... Cheers and good luck

[Luke78]

With platies,you will notice the area around the tummy and near the anal fin will be dark.As too how many young come out,its hard to tell unless you watch.Some of them have been know to give birth to lots.If theres a male present in your aquarium,and theres several females as well you will have continuous breeding going on.Livebearers are known to eat their young as well.So as mentioned already in a post,provide what ever cover you can(plants,rocks,stones,driftwood etc) or put them in a breeder box.

[Shell Dweller]

If you have a spare empty 5 to 10 gal you could net the fry and and put them in there until they grow a little larger. Thats what I did with my guppies in the beginning.

I have a 33gal which I keep all my fancy tailed male guppies in, along with platy's and swordtails. My platy's have had fry and there is enough flame moss and other plants for them to hide in. I probably lost some fry to the other fish but I dont mind as I dont want a zillion platies also.

If you plan on keeping all the fry you better keep your eye's open for a deal on a couple of 33 gal tanks, your going to need them.......SOON

[raeven]

Great advice from everyone. I don't plan to keep them for too long. After they're a month and a half old I was planning on just selling them. There's a good deal for a 10 gallon tank I saw the other day that I think I'm going to pick up on the weekend.

As for java moss, I would love to get that. I have a few fish that would be in heaven if it was in my tank. The only problem is I'm not sure if my apple snails will eat it. I've been told they mow down on pretty much any live plants in the tank. If I did give it a shot though, any idea where I might be able to grab some?

[stonedaquarium]

Great advice from everyone. I don't plan to keep them for too long. After they're a month and a half old I was planning on just selling them. There's a good deal for a 10 gallon tank I saw the other day that I think I'm going to pick up on the weekend.

As for java moss, I would love to get that. I have a few fish that would be in heaven if it was in my tank. The only problem is I'm not sure if my apple snails will eat it. I've been told they mow down on pretty much any live plants in the tank. If I did give it a shot though, any idea where I might be able to grab some?

you can try rogers aquatics in surrey its by scott road and 82 it think... or if you dont mind driving to richmond... Pat (mykiss ) from canadian aquatics has a lot of moss.

cheers