Platy Fry

[jayde]

i woke this morning to find my platy had given birth. i managed to find 2 fry and have them in a breeding trap, i was wondering if it would be a good idea to put a bit of plant in wiv them as when all the other fish swim up to the trap the fry get all jumpy. please help this is my first set of fry

 

[OldMan47]

It couldn't hurt to give them a place to hide. It is a survival response to run and hide when a large fish approaches, after all the rest of the fry, probably 30 or more, did not learn that fast enough and became sushi.

 

[jayde]

my platy looks like she still gonna give birth, the dark bit (gravid spot) in her belly is still very close to her bum any ideas?

 

[craig855s]

Ive now adopted a survival of the fittest policy in my tank (giving PLENTY of places to hide) and it seems to be working well (in the fact that i have 10 fry that i can see making it to maturity,and that is from the first brood of 2 store bought fish,2 more broods are due any day now so soon i will be overrun with fry)

So i recomend doing this method..so much easier than moving fish around and taking care of 2 tanks or 2 areas in 1 tank etc..also means u wont get hundreds of fry a month as some will get eaten.

As for when platys are due to drop..its when the belly goes squareish instead of round that u are very close (well under a week) to seeing fry

 

[jayde]

Thanks. she still looks very large but not as large but she still has the gravid spot. can they hold on a day or so before finishing the births? ive just looked at my other platy and i think she might be pregnant to but she is bright orange so i can't see if she has the gravid spot.

 

[craig855s]

new to all this myself but one of my guppies gave birth on friday,she was massive,still looks a little round now and there is a gravid spot (which i think is prob just a womb full of tiny embryos) i dont think she has any fry left in her from friday...

 

[OldMan47]

A mature platy will still seem large after she gives drops and the gravid spot color is never, never, never a good way to judge a livebearer's stage of pregnancy. Actually it is not technically a pregnancy at all but I don't have a good word for it. Common livebearers do not nourish their fry before they are born the way a mammal does. They mostly just protect them by allowing the eggs to develop inside the female.

Size also doesn't matter much. Have a look at this molly and think about whether she looks ready to drop her fry.

Now think about this. She stopped dropping her fry less than 8 hours before the picture was taken. It was a full 6 weeks later that she delivered another fry drop. The fry in the picture are hers and were born while I was at work on their birthday. I don't think I could have missed the fry before going to work since I was specifically looking for them in order to get that picture.

 

[The Gourami]

Adding some plants is a good idea, goodluck with the 2 little fry.

 

[jayde]

yeah got 4 plants. thanks for all the help im hoping my 2 little fry will be ok.

 

[The Gourami]

My female molly gave birth last night and i lost them all.

 

[jayde]

I saw 2 more swimming in the main tank last night but i couldn't catch them. I hope they come out 2night so i can catch them before the other fish get them.

 

[jayde]

i got them i now have 4 fry they were hiding under 1 of my plants. Im gonna check again 2moro night because i think there maybe more to find.
I just hope the 4 fry all survive. xx

 

[OldMan47]

If you can keep their water clean and keep the fry fed, most of them seem to survive. The drop that I showed pictures of was about 30 fry and I still have about 30 fry from that drop after 5 months. These days they look almost as big as the adult female in the picture but are not nearly as heavy as she is.