Is my platy pregnant?

[Aquariumuse]

Can any platy experts let me know if my platy is pregnant and if so... how far along is she? I’ve had a few platy fry over the course of this year from different platys but never really catch all their brood since I don’t really know how far along they are. I usually end up saving like 5 or 8 the most. I’m a little more experienced with other fish but platy has always been a little complicated for me since I can’t see the eggs through her dark colors.

 

[Colin_T]

She looks gravid (pregnant) and is in the second half of her cycle. So she will probably give birth in the next 2 weeks.

If you have lots of plants in the tank, especially floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta), the babies will have somewhere to hide and fewer should get eaten.

If you feed the adult fish more often (3-5) times a day, they generally won't eat the babies because they are full. If you do feed more often, you should also do more water changes and gravel cleans to keep the tank clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Don't put the female into a breeding net/ trap because they stress out and are more likely to have a premature labour or eat the babies. Just leave the female in a well planted tank and let her give birth when she is ready.

 

[CaT209]

She looks gravid (pregnant) and is in the second half of her cycle. So she will probably give birth in the next 2 weeks.

If you have lots of plants in the tank, especially floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta), the babies will have somewhere to hide and fewer should get eaten.

If you feed the adult fish more often (3-5) times a day, they generally won't eat the babies because they are full. If you do feed more often, you should also do more water changes and gravel cleans to keep the tank clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Don't put the female into a breeding net/ trap because they stress out and are more likely to have a premature labour or eat the babies. Just leave the female in a well planted tank and let her give birth when she is ready.

This is good to know, I brought home a pregnant, gravid pineapple swordtail from the pet store yesterday and have been looking for information on what the best thing to do is. From the sound of it I should get some floating plants and make a hornwort kelp forest with what is already in the tank... hope the fry don't get gobbled up by the other fish in the tank..

 

[Back in the fold]

Newly born live bearer fry ALWAYS get gobbled up by the other fish. Catch some out and keep them in another container for a couple weeks or so to grow and then put them back.

 

[fish48]

This is good to know, I brought home a pregnant, gravid pineapple swordtail from the pet store yesterday and have been looking for information on what the best thing to do is. From the sound of it I should get some floating plants and make a hornwort kelp forest with what is already in the tank... hope the fry don't get gobbled up by the other fish in the tank..

floating plants may help , you need to cover the bottom of your tank as well for the first few days swordtails or platies will hide at the bottom or in substrate of your tank

 

[CaT209]

floating plants may help , you need to cover the bottom of your tank as well for the first few days swordtails or platies will hide at the bottom or in substrate of your tank

I was just looking at how I want to rearrange things on the bottom. Lots Of cover and caves but also a lot of Corydoras and kuhli loaches too... So I don't know.
Think I'll just rescape the plants and try to create a small island they can hide around. And if they get eaten they get eaten...

I should just go buy another tank since they are on sale at Petco realistically.