Getting platie to breed

[Fishguy13]

Hello,
I was wondering ow to get platy to breed as I have had my platy for some time now but have not got any fry. Do you have to feed any special foods and constant water change?
I hope to get a few fry as I am interested in getting them to breed. They are in 65 litre fish tank.
Thanks, Fishguy13

 

[Colin_T]

Platies will breed when mature. Any female that is kept in a tank with a male will become pregnant and a month after she is fertilised, she will release a batch of free swimming young.

All fish that are being conditioned for breeding should be fed 3-5 times per day with a variety of foods including dry, frozen but defrosted, and live.

You should do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day or every couple of days when feeding this much food, to keep the water clean.

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Do you have a picture of the fish?
Are you sure it's female?

If female livebearers are kept with males and don't give birth after a couple of months, they might have intestinal worms and these need to be treated before they will breed.

 

[Fishguy13]

Thanks I will try and get the picture tonight as I have to leave soon.

 

[Fishguy13]

Sorry I will try and get pictures tonight as it did not work out last night.

 

[Fishguy13]

Sorry how do you upload a picture?

 

[Colin_T]

To upload a picture.
Under the section where you type stuff is a button called "Upload a File". Click that button.

When you click that button it will open a window and you simply find the picture and double click it.

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If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

 

[Fishguy13]

Thanks for that, I have two pictures of the male as I was not sure what view was better. The male is the red one.

 

[Fishguy13]

Hello can anyone help please

 

[Colin_T]

The best pictures for identifying things on fish are usually side views like the picture you took of the grey mickey mouse platy
https://www.fishforums.net/attachments/platyf2-jpg.92143/

The grey platy is female and she looks fat, so she is probably pregnant (gravid). Give her a few weeks and see if she gets fatter.

Make sure you have lots of plants in the tank for her and the babies. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is the best plant for them. It floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate.

 

[Fishguy13]

Would a breeding net work

 

[Fishguy13]

Sorry I was trying to get a side on of those two but the grey one is a camera hog nd the other two don't want to face the right way

 

[Fishguy13]

I am pretty sure he red one is the male as it has a pointed anal fin

 

[Fishguy13]

All what flake is good flake, and I have feeding frozen brine shrimp or should I use something else once I finish the brine shrimp?

 

[Colin_T]

Use a general tropical flake food and add a couple of different frozen foods to their diet. Brineshrimp, daphnia, bloodworms, mysis shrimp and marine mix can all be used. Marine mix is a combination of prawn/ shrimp, fish, squid and spinach. You can use raw or cooked prawn too if you can't get the other stuff.

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Breeding nets are fine to hold baby fish but not suitable for adult fish. They cause the females to stress out and eat the young. If you have lots of plants in the tank, the babies can hide in the plants and you can scoop them out and put them into a breeding net.

The best plant for livebearers is Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta). It is a floating plant but can also be grown in the substrate.

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You can add information to your previous posts by using the "Edit" button under where you type stuff.

 

[Fishguy13]

Ok thanks by prawns do you mean your normal eating prawns? and how do you get the babies out of the plants?