Platy birth...

[GoneFishin']

I have a very pregnant platy. She is translucent so I know she has at least five peas in the pod. I have been observing them growing for about three weeks now. I have a breeder ready. But how do I know when she is going to have them? I don't want to put her in there too early. What are the signs that birth is imminent? I am a total noob to aquaria. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Tom

 

[William]

Hi did you read this: http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=13664

What other fish do you have in your tank, maybe it'd be best to let her have her babies in the main aquarium.

 

[GoneFishin']

Thank you William.
At the moment the tank contains one Dwarf Gourami, one Kuhlii loach, three other Platies, and two Otos. The Gourami is the one I am worried about eating the fry the most. Do you think they will be safe? Thank you.

Tom

 

[yhbae]

Actually, platies are extremely good at eating platy fries (with the possible exception of the mother just after giving birth). If you have 3 others, they will gladly gobble them up unless if you have any shelters for the fries.

Do you have any java moss or similar plants in your tank? I remember when I had 1 male/2 female while back in the community tank with some java moss - only 1 survived through until now...

On the other hand, I don't like moving female into a small net either as I can clearly see she is under lots of stress. I ended up with a separate breeder tank with lots of java moss. This works well for me.

 

[GoneFishin']

Thank you yhbae.
Unfortunately my other tank is serving as a sick tank for my other Gourami. So I cannot use it for a fry tank. I was hoping there was some kind of sign to look for when the fry were about to be born. So I could keep the female in the breeder for as little time as possible. The instructions say you can keep her in there for a couple of days. But that sounds too cruel to me. At this point she is still swimming all over the tank and eating all the time. So I don't think she is quite ready yet. I guess I will keep my eye on her activity and eating. I don't have any Java Moss but I do have some Cabombas for the fry to hide in case I miss the birthing. Hopefully that will work out.

Tom

 

[yhbae]

Just about all my platies give birth to young ones every 27-28 days, so you must be at most 1 week off from THE day...

Good luck!

 

[William]

Does she look like she is literally going to explode? And almost square when you look at her from behind?

 

[GoneFishin']

Thank you both.
She had fry once before. When I first got her for my new tank. I did not know she was pregnant when I bought her from the store for cycling the tank. She never got really big. And she only had maybe three fry. She is kind of a runt. Smaller than any of my other Platies. I did not know she had fry until I saw them zipping around the tank. Sadly they did not survive the cycling.
That was around the first of the month. So I figured she is going to pop any day now. Right now she is the biggest I have seen her yet. And yes the bottom of her belly is starting to square off. I hope it goes well this time.

Tom