preggo platy?

[THEGENOS]

I am very new to fish so bear with me. I got a red wag platty about a week ago.

I also have 2 black fin tetra and 3 neon tetra in the tank. Feeling the platy was being ignored by the other fish I went out and got him a friend today, It is also a red wag platy. The new one seems to be a bit fuller in the midsection. Is this normal or is it possible the fish is pregnant?

 

[Bradley]

Well, it probobly is pregnant but first you need to sex it and figure out if it is a male or a female.
I'm sure you know about the gonopodium but just incase,
Males have a gonopodium-a pointed analfin
Females have a regular fin and a gravid(black) spot near the rear

For reference, the fish displayed in your picture is a male as his anal fin is pointed; a females fin would be like all the others

Hope i was of some help!
Good luck and may you have many small prizes waiting for you in the tank soon!


P.S.-If it is a pregnant platie, it will need a LOT of food(at least 2 meals a day), or it may abort and it will all be for nothing!

 

[THEGENOS]

Will I need to protect them from my other fish? I cant imagine that either of my platys would eat them, and my neon tetras are teeny tiny. The only other fish are my 2 black fin tetra. They are decently small (about 1.25") and I keep everyone well fed ( 3 feedings a day with tropical flake). How many baby fish can pop out? My tank is only 10 gallons so Im thinking that if its any more than 3 i'm going to have too many fish.
How long will it be before they get to adult size?

 

[aquatrippe]

Hello,

The main culprits will most likely be the adult platies.

Platy fish have no parental instincts and all fish instinctively try to eat anything moving that is smaller than they are.

The rule of thumb is if they can fit it in their mouths they will eat it.

Keeping the fish well fed is somewhat of a deterrent but as fish are opportunistic feeders they will most likely eat some of the young.

I don't know if your black tip tetras are what we call "Black Widdow Tetras" in the US, if they are they will likely eat them too.. baby platys are very very small.

Here is what you can do. Get some java moss or a thicket of plants the babies can hide in, they will do this instinctively...you will loose some of them to predation but a handful will survive and as they get past their first few weeks they are probably going to be safe.

If you have another aquarium cycled and ready for fish you can use it as a nursery and put the female in it with some plants and remove her when the babies are born.

Remember platies generally have quite a few babies at a time and you can afford to loose the majority of them unless you really want to get into raising a brood, in which case another aquarium..10 gallons will do for a start is necessary.

good luck

 

[Bradley]

You got the right idea there aquatrippe

Dont forget THEGENOS, platies will give you lots of fry every month so if there is any major problem and all the fry die, dont worry, there is always next time!


By the way, welcome to Fishforum.net aquatrippe!

 

[THEGENOS]

so much for a cheap hobby I suppose I will get a breeding net or perhaps another small tank for them. I think i'd get pretty mad if I saw my fish eating the baby fish.

 

[aquatrippe]

Hey Bradley, Thanks for the welcome.

Genos,

Think about it this way.. if you raise every platy to adulthood that your female drops, you would have wall to wall aquariums and alot more expense that you could ever recover by selling them.

At that point you might be happy rather than angry that the platys have this ingenious way of keeping the adult population at sustainable levels.

This is natural behaviour for fish and it is the way that nature preserves a balance.

As for breeding nets and traps, imo, you might want to skip them and just get a big bunch of java moss.

If you save 5 babies from each brood your platy drops your tank would be overpopulated within 6 months..and it would never stop..

The breeding traps can also be risky for the mothers health, they tend to try to get out of them and often damage themselves doing so.

Aquatrippe

 

[THEGENOS]

Dont forget THEGENOS, platies will give you lots of fry every month

ok now I feel better. I didnt know the fish would have so many babys so often. I think I will get rid of the shipwreck and put some grass there so they have a place to hide. thanks for all your help Bradley and aquatrippe.

 

[THEGENOS]

I just thought of something else. My tank has a powerful current because of the filter. I doubt the little guys will be able to fight it. What can I do to prevent them from being sucked into the intake of the filter?

 

[wetwetwet]

Genos,

There will be some less turbulent areas arround plants, near the bottom, behind decor etc. where any fry would try to find refuge....

...you could look at it this way - in nature its survival of the fittest...

 

[THEGENOS]

...you could look at it this way - in nature its survival of the fittest...

Im not sure if mother nature has a filter sucking up the small fish sorry couldnt resist

 

[wetwetwet]

lol ...maybe not