My Pregnant Platy

[CaspianRain]

Has been in the breeder trap for about 15 hours. It has all of the signs which I read show that it is ready:

They will become very unsocial
The anal area will slighty open up
The back end of the fish's belly will drop as much as the front causing it to square off.
You will see little black dots in the gravid spot (the fry's eyes)
From a over head view, she will look very wide.
From a back or front view, she will be ball shaped.

I just want to know if I am stressing her and how much longer she should be in there?

Also, how much longer before birth?

Thanks.

http/i42.tinypic.com/8vvxcn.jpg

 

[weejen]

i wouldnt keep her in there for longer than 24hrs max as it will stress her to much

 

[CaspianRain]

Thanks for the reply. Any idea when she will drop the fry? It's been quite some time now and as I said, she has had all of the signs that foreshadow her dropping.

 

[CaspianRain]

Updated first post with a picture. Sorry its bad quality. Taken with camera phone.

She has a white tube thing sticking out or under her anus.

 

[HCpetraitis]

Well, she isn't squared off from the picture. Maybe the tube is just poop. She's a pretty fish watch her because she is definitely big.

 

[OldMan47]

She is quite a ways away from a drop in my opinion. Have you looked through the pinned topic that 5teady started yet? It has pictures of different stages of development for livebearers like platies and can be useful in estimating where you are.

 

[CaspianRain]

Yes I have looked at the pinned topic. The picture I have above is very low quality. It is not poop for sure, its white and has been there for days...

She looks exactly like this:

I can see all of the fry in her too.

 

[OldMan47]

That picture of one of 5teady's fish is within a day or two at the most. If you compare the shape of that girl to yours, they are both the same size but 5teady's is well squared off and yours is quite round still. It is not size that matters, it is the shape that you use to judge how close.

This big girl looks almost as far along as yours by pure size. It was taken a few hours after she had a fry drop. Those are her fry in the picture.

She is quite rounded in the picture above although still very large. This is another picture of her a few weeks later, the day before her next drop. She has almost the same size as in the first picture but the belly drops down very quickly right behind her gills and runs flat until it comes back up right at her anal fin. She is "squared off". Shape is everything when judging a pregnancy stage, size is more often an indication of being well fed.

 

[CaspianRain]

Thanks so much OldMan47, I guess she is indeed a little ways to go just like everyone else said. Thanks!

 

[CaspianRain]

My platy gave birth yesterday (her stomach went back to normal) but I can't find any babies. I am guessing she or the other fish ate the babies.

 

[CaspianRain]

I just found 3 babies swimming at the top of the tank!

But the mother is not moving too much. She has been near the bottom of the tank all day and only swims up to eat food. What does this mean?

 

[Fishy96]

hey good luck with the fry i have a question since your fish have given birth.
does the female and male eat the fry in the trap or leave tem alone

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Fishy. The male cannot eat any newborn fry because he is not ever placed in the breeding trap. If the trap is set up properly, very few of the fry will be in reach of the female either. The V shaped bottom will let the fry drop through and is too small for the female to follow the fry. After the drop the female is removed and then the v-bottom can be removed to give the fry more room to swim.