Is My (insert Type Of Livebearer Here) Pregnant?

[nosoup4you]

This question comes up often enough that I think that we should have a pinned topic or at least a thread to which we can refer people showing the various common livebearers in the various stages of gestation. I would like to try to put something together, this is where I need your help. I need pictures of Guppies, Mollies, Platies, Swordtails, and Endler's in weeks 1-4 (5 in some cases) of gestation. Please label the type of fish and for how long they have been pregnant. I think that this could be a great addition to this forum.

 

[nosoup4you]

I'll start...

Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
Week 4 (27 days)

 

[Spishkey]

i thought there was a detailed pinned one?

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=200198"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=200198[/URL] also great info here
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...53113&st=60

 

[nosoup4you]

Yes, both great sources of info yet we still get the question multiple times a day. The first link is specific to Guppies and only has illustrations and the second only details what to look for once the gestation period is already complete. I am not looking to replace either of these, just expound on them in further detail with pictures for comparison.

I guess I should ask what all of you think, is this a good use of my time? Would this be of any help to the inexperienced?

 

[lilfishie]

My Blue Coral Platy
Guess at roughly 4 week mark but she gave birth the day after i brought her so could of been way earlier

 

[Pysgodyn]

I think it's a good idea. Infact I was just going to suggest it just before I saw your thread!
It would be good if it was just to "weed" that/those particular questions out the list of threads in the livebearer section so that answers to other issues could be found more easily. At the moment it's difficult to find all the other stuff in amongst so many similar threads on the pregnancy issue! - Could we not have a whole section of "Common Livebearers" purely for pregnancy questions? It could be called "Antinatal classes" or something! Then everyone who wants to share photos of their loved ones can do so, and all other unrelated questions could be posted here instead.

 

[OldMan47]

There is a very good thread with pictures already pinned here. I have a link to it in my signature called "Ready to pop". New fish keepers cannot be forced to read the pinned articles but usually I refer them rather than trying to explain it all over again. Each newbie seems to go through a period where they have some confidence in looking after their fish and they realize that their's might be pregnant. At that point they seem to give up searching pinned articles and just ask.

 

[nosoup4you]

I guess the title is a bit misleading, I'm not aiming to create a thread that will detail the signs of imminent labor. My intent was to create a thread so that people could compare size and body shape in the various stages of gestation so that they would know approximately how far along their fish is. There are a lot of threads stating 'my guppy has been pregnant for 3 months and still no fry' and then when they post a pic the fish is either not pregnant or in the very early stages. If we had such a thread as I described, we could refer them to said thread and they could do the comparison themselves.

Oh well, apparently the consensus is that it would be redundant so I will just shut up now. lol

 

[malakye]

I thought it was a great idea

 

[Jesseye]

So I'm a brand spankin noob here, and for whatever my two cents is worth, after looking through a ton of threads this one was the one I was most excited to see.

I just got my first own livebearers, but I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable on fish keeping as it's been a hobby of mine for years and I also worked in a fish store for years. However, I have a few different kinds of livebearers now and it's been awhile since I've worked with them so I was curious about what different species looked like pregnant. In particular, I'm a little unsure of what a balloon molly would look like since they're so round already. I'm sure I'll figure it out within the next few weeks, but I now only have one female balloon molly (as the male didn't make the transfer) and I'm also wondering if they can cross breed? Can my short fin male molly knock the female balloon molly up?? probably a dumb question, but there are all these hybrids so i dunno...thought I'd ask.

I'd love to see this thread develop.

Jesseye

 

[LauraFrog]

I think that a thread detailing this is long, LONG overdue... I vote clear photos from several angles and possibly some colour diagrams as well. I'd be happy to do the diagrams but I don't have all species of livebearers to take photographs of.
It might also be a good idea to do some clear colour photographs and also diagrams of how to sex each species of livebearer - it's pretty easy but instead of us all digging up photos every time somebody asks it would be good just to be able to direct them to a thread.

As I see it here's what we need for each species:

Each photo should be given from front, side and top. Multiples are good and it would be great if we had a run of photos of the same fish.
A photo of a fish that is not pregnant or has just given birth, to show the normal shape of a well fed fish's abdomen.
One week gone, just starting to show pregnancy.
Half term - lots of people are convinced by now that their fish is overdue.
Three weeks gone
Two or three days out - should show the beginnings of squaring off, and possibly the onset of 'broody' behavior.
Immediately before the birth - like those great photos 5teady got of his platy right before it bust. We should also commandeer that photo of the guppy he has - she's small, which shows that 'very pregnant' does not necessarily equate with 'hugely swollen abdomen'. We've also got to link to that thread about how to tell when she's ready to drop, and I might write something about trapping as well as we get a LOT of questions about that.
So did I leave anything out/stuff something up? no thread hijack intended, I'm just surprised that this hasn't been more positively received, I think it's definitely a necessary pinned thread.

GUPPY:
Not pregnant/just given birth - front, side, top
One week gone - front, side, top
Half term - front, side, top
Three weeks gone - front, side, top
Two days out - front, side, top
Ready to drop - front, side, top

PLATY: (it would be good to have some or all of these photos for swords as well because they are differently shaped in the body.)
Not pregnant/just given birth - front, side, top
One week gone - front, side, top
Half term - front, side, top
Three weeks gone - front, side, top
Two days out - front, side, top
Ready to drop - front, side, top

MOLLY (standard body):
Not pregnant/just given birth - front, side, top
One week gone - front, side, top
Half term - front, side, top
Three weeks gone - front, side, top
Two days out - front, side, top
Ready to drop - front, side, top

MOLLY (balloon):
Not pregnant/just given birth - front, side, top
One week gone - front, side, top
Half term - front, side, top
Three weeks gone - front, side, top
Two days out - front, side, top
Ready to drop - front, side, top

 

[OldMan47]

That would be quite a set of pictures Laura. If you go to that many pictures you will probably want a separate set for each kind of fish. maybe a series for molly and another for platy etc. As far as how to trap a fish, you need to address how not to trap a fish. I do not and probably never will trap a female, instead I put her in a spare planted birthing tank. It causes much less stress and the fry are not cramped afterward. With a molly, you can even get away with the female staying in the tank with her fry. This is one of mine 10 days after the drop.

 

[nosoup4you]

Well, even if the topic is never pinned we could at least have a great thread to link to. May take some time (4 weeks) as most of my livebearers are in the mid to late stages of pregnancy. I would love to have your contribution Laurafrog. Let's try to make this happen.

 

[OldMan47]

I have pictures of that female every few days from her last drop so I could give you some of those. I only try to get pictures of her from the side though.

 

[LauraFrog]

That would be great, OldMan!!! My brackish setup contains platys and mollies but currently no females of breeding age... there is one platy and two or three breeding female mollies at the LFS that I'm interested in at the moment, but it's had filtration issues (meaning the filter cracked up and electrocuted some old fish ) so I'm holding off for a week or two. I've bodgied up a HOB style filter (powerhead in the tank, hole in an old drink bottle for the water in, another for the water out) which seems to be working but the media was 24 hours sitting in the tank without water flow over it. Might leave it a few more days before I add fish.


It doesn't really matter if it takes time (Of course it's going to) so we might as well just start collecting together pictures, then start another thread when we have enough.