Are my MM Platys pregnant?

[Ishfwilf]

I have a few Mickey Mouse platys in my tank and two of them are very large and I'm wondering if they are pregnant. I have attached to pictures and they are two different platys just in case I bought a breeder box but if they are pregnant I would love some advice on how to proceed thank you all!

 

[Aquarian58]

They look like they are and if they've been with one or more males in the last month you can probably bet your house on it.

How you proceed depends on what you want to do with the fry and whether or not you have hiding places and/or predators in the tank with them.

My MM platy gave birth to at least 10 fry recently and probably some more which didn't survive the first week because they became snacks for their tank mates.

She looked exactly like your second pic for about two weeks or so before the fry were born.

If you want to keep as many fry as you can, best separate her from other fish and provide a place for the fry to escape to from their mother as soon as they are born.

Good luck with it though

 

[Ishfwilf]

i would love to be able to save the fry, i have a breeder box but have read that it can be stressful and cause the fish equivalent of a miscarriage, but some people swear by breeder boxes. what do you think? thank you for your help

 

[Aquarian58]

IMO, it would be best for all concerned (including you) if they could give birth in their home environment where they are comfortable and settled. You will need to assess the likelihood of survival of the fry if you do things that way. Otherwise work out a way to separate them as I mentioned without undue stress. The ideal plan B would be a cycled tank of their own but you may not have one of those ready in time. Would like to read the opinions of other here though.

 

[BOGaming_]

Honestly if any platy has been in contact with a male for more than a week they're going to be pregnant, and not only that but they're able to have fry every month for about 3 months even without getting into contact. If you have a heavily planted tank or lots of hiding spaces then fry could probably hide although you'll have losses OR you can do what i do and get a second tank for them. Make sure if you do this it's cycled and that you use a sponge filter as fry get sucked into normal ones