Hey, thank you. That's great advice, honestly I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Yes they had just been fed but her size has been pretty similar all day. Certainly a bit bigger than yesterday.
My girls would be so excited to see just one little fry, I do have a breader box but planning on using that if I manage to catch any little ones.
I have some plants, I'll take the weights out and just let them float for a while and see what happens.
Thank you
You're welcome
Livebearers are definitely especially fun for kids!
She's most likely to give birth overnight, for the best chance of catching fry before anyadults eat them, Attach the breeder box inside the tank and leave a net handy, so you'll be prepared when fry do appear. Then sneak into the room first thing in the morning with a torch, and check the tank for fry using the torch. Look at the surface and down among any plants and decor at the bottom, since some do go down to hide too. Then if they're there, you can scoop them into the breeder box before the other fish wake up. Can make that a fun experience for the little ones too, playing at being sneaky
Also, well -fed adults are less likely to be bothered chasing down fry... just be careful about your water quality if you feed more than normal. Little and often, rather than putting a lot extra in at once, and it's worth increasing water changes anyway, since water quality is important for healthy fry and they'll be adding more to the tank bioload anyway.
You could try putting the female in the breeder box to give birth if you want to. I personally don't like to use them since I feel like they stress out the female, and it can be hard to tell when they're going to give birth anyway - so sometimes they end up in the small box for days. But other people do have success with them, so it's entirely your choice if you'd like to use it that way!
If you do, I'd suggest putting the box in a darker, back corner of the tank so she feels more sheltered and hidden away, and add a little plant matter so she has something to hide in. Being on display in a clear plastic box at the front would be more stressful for her.
Also recommend a gentle technique for catching and moving a gravid female, since netting her and lifting her out of the water can damage her and the developing fry. If you want to catch her to move her to the breeder box, net her with one hand, then while she's still underwater, scoop both her and the net into a cup or jug, so you can lift her and release her without ever lifting her out of the water with the net.
