Pregnant platy?

[foxgirl158]

Hello, I joined this forum in hopes that someone might be able to help me. I believe my neon black redtail platy is pregnant, as well as the red wag you see in the background. (sorry for the picture quality, they move really fast.) I have them, along with a nerite snail and a neon mickey mouse platy in a 10g quarantine tank, as they are relatively new. The mickey mouse currently has some sort of fungus growth that I am treating with API Pimafix.
I have never owned platys before, let alone a pregnant one, and so I am at a loss at what I need for fry. Do I need to put the moms in a separate tank until they give birth? If they stay in the 10g, will the medication hurt them? What do I need to feed the fry?
Thank you for any information you can give!

 

[JemZ]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

It is difficult to tell whether the fish is pregnant or not based on the photo due to quality. I know how hard it is to take pictures of fish so I would recommend you look yourself at the fish for a gravid spot in the lower middle of the fish and it is a good indication that a fish is pregnant.

The goal is to minimize stress in pregnant fish and if there is anyone who could be aggressive towards them in your main tank then I would keep them in a different tank. Preferably, especially if the pregnant fish has already been in the main tank, you can move the aggressor to a different tank instead.

Once they give birth, the new mother might try to eat the newborns. This is why it is important to have places for the fry to hide once they are born. There are different types of plants that you can place in the tank such as water sprite, but make sure that these plants are free of parasites before you place them in your tank.

There are special foods on the market for fish fry but if you have good quality flakes, you can break them into smaller pieces and the fry can eat these, too.

There are many things to know about platies but one thing that is very important to know when taking care of them is that they have very good appetites and it is easy to overfeed them. Give them only as much as they can eat in a couple of minutes and no more past that. Feeding them plant matter such as peas and fasting them every so often can help lower the risk of problems that come with overfeeding.

 

[foxgirl158]

Thank you for your tips!
I was planning on moving the snail and possibly the mickey mouse (depending on if her fungus has cleared up by the end of the treatment) Into my main tank with my three small goldfish (I have been advised on putting platys in with goldfish already) next week. Once the mothers give birth, I was planning on moving them to my main tank as well.
Here are some better quality pictures of the red wag and the neon black redtail.
Thank you for your kind welcome!

 

[JemZ]

You're welcome

I believe I might see a gravid spot on the red wag? It is more difficult to tell with the neon black platy but if you can see a sort of silvery shine or sheen in the belly it also gives a decent indication. I would continue to monitor them until you can be sure. @AdoraBelle Dearheart might be able to give some good advice as well.

How long have these fish been in quarantine? Most aquarists believe that 2-4 weeks in quarantine gives the best opportunity to catch diseases before you welcome the new fish into your main tank, 4 weeks being the best if you can manage it. I'm glad you caught the fungus on your Micky mouse platy and are treating it.

If they are indeed pregnant and do give birth, you will need to be very careful when handling them. Leave them in the tank they gave birth in for at least a week to allow them to heal and rest. You may already know if you want to keep the fry or not, but if you do not many pet and fish stores are willing to take them in. They might give you a store credit in return that you can use to buy things in their store, but they might not.

 

[foxgirl158]

You're welcome

I believe I might see a gravid spot on the red wag? It is more difficult to tell with the neon black platy but if you can see a sort of silvery shine or sheen in the belly it also gives a decent indication. I would continue to monitor them until you can be sure. @AdoraBelle Dearheart might be able to give some good advice as well.

How long have these fish been in quarantine? Most aquarists believe that 2-4 weeks in quarantine gives the best opportunity to catch diseases before you welcome the new fish into your main tank, 4 weeks being the best if you can manage it. I'm glad you caught the fungus on your Micky mouse platy and are treating it.

If they are indeed pregnant and do give birth, you will need to be very careful when handling them. Leave them in the tank they gave birth in for at least a week to allow them to heal and rest. You may already know if you want to keep the fry or not, but if you do not many pet and fish stores are willing to take them in. They might give you a store credit in return that you can use to buy things in their store, but they might not.

Thank you! That's super helpful they will have been in quarantine for three weeks this Monday, I'm going an extra week because when I first got them the red wag had Ich, so I want to be sure everyone is healthy before I put them in my main tank.
I will probably keep at least one fry, and I'm pretty sure my local aquatics store will take the others. I would prefer a female, but if I accidentally keep a male would he breed with his mother and the other platys? (Edited to add that all the platys are female)

 

[emeraldking]

I feel I need to step in here. A gravid spot itself doesn't indicate a pregnancy. A growing gravid spot however can be an indication of pregnancy. For you need to know that also a non-pregnant female can show a gravid spot. For the gravid spot itself is just a translucent part of the skin. This enables one to see through that part of the skin. This means what can be shown is a part of the intestines, eggs and optionally fry.

 

[JemZ]

Thank you! That's super helpful they will have been in quarantine for three weeks this Monday, I'm going an extra week because when I first got them the red wag had Ich, so I want to be sure everyone is healthy before I put them in my main tank.
I will probably keep at least one fry, and I'm pretty sure my local aquatics store will take the others. I would prefer a female, but if I accidentally keep a male would he breed with his mother and the other platys? (Edited to add that all the platys are female)

Good stuff from emeraldking above

Platies are easy to breed so I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if that happens. If you don't want more platies you can keep the male (in the case that you have one) in a different tank. Bear in mind that you will not be able to tell right away which fry are female and male.

Good on you for sticking to the plan and quarantining your fish. Many people are not patient or do not quarantine at all before putting new fish into their tanks.

 

[foxgirl158]

My uncle knows a lot about fish, what I know I got from him and the internet lol. I hope that I'll be able to learn more specific stuff about my particular fish by joining this website!
I definitely quarantine all of my new fish/snails, I don't want to lose my three goldfish. I've already lost two others from various diseases/accidents.

 

[emeraldking]

My uncle knows a lot about fish, what I know I got from him and the internet lol. I hope that I'll be able to learn more specific stuff about my particular fish by joining this website!
I definitely quarantine all of my new fish/snails, I don't want to lose my three goldfish. I've already lost two others from various diseases/accidents.

it's always a good thing to quarantine new assets first...

 

[foxgirl158]

URGENT!!

Continuing to post on this thread because I don't think I should make another for basically the same thing.
I believe my neon redtail is getting ready to drop. She was swimming very quickly away from the other platys, hiding behind the little house I have, and I thought I saw the white dot that indicates the birthing tube so I used a net to coax her towards a fry trap that I put in the tank. She is now in the trap, but she is freaking out, swimming very fast and darting around the trap. Is that normal for platys about to give birth? If not, should I let her out of the trap? My filter intake is not covered yet, and I'm worried about the two other platys eating the fry.
Thanks!

 

[foxgirl158]

This may not qualify as an emergency, but I would like some opinions rather quickly so that I take the best course of action sooner rather than later.
I believe my neon black redtail platy is getting ready to drop fry. (I have confirmed that she is pregnant.) She was swimming very quickly away from the other platys, hiding behind the little house I have, and I thought I saw the white dot that indicates the birthing tube so I used a net to coax her towards a fry trap that I put in the tank. She is now in the trap, but she is freaking out, swimming very fast and darting around the trap. Is that normal for platys about to give birth? If not, should I let her out of the trap? My filter intake is not covered yet, and I'm worried about the two other platys eating the fry, but I really don't want her to get hurt. Pics of the trap and her below. The trap has an insert with tilted sides so the fry slide down towards the gap in the middle that drops them down to the bottom. Sorry about the quality of the picture of the fish, they move fast.
Thanks!
(Edited to add that she is breathing really hard)

 

[foxgirl158]

Here is a video of her. She was freaking out more before I started recording.

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https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/AF1QipPUaWceUP879xgyLEPsyVOPaX4Uwnv5sEwAqdwz

 

[Sgooosh]

she looks pregnant
those nets are not for the big fish.
i trapped my guppy in there, she freaked out and aborted
better not to trap them...
once she birthes put the babies in there

 

[foxgirl158]

she looks pregnant
those nets are not for the big fish.
i trapped my guppy in there, she freaked out and aborted
better not to trap them...
once she birthes put the babies in there

The problem is, I heard that they usually give birth at night, and by morning I am afraid that they will all be eaten or sucked into my filter.....
Thank you though, I will definitely take her out if other people agree. Some babies are better than no babies or no babies and a dead mama.

 

[Sgooosh]

The problem is, I heard that they usually give birth at night, and by morning I am afraid that they will all be eaten or sucked into my filter.....
Thank you though, I will definitely take her out if other people agree. Some babies are better than no babies or no babies and a dead mama.

yes..
do you have a big net?
that is better than the box because it is bigger and soft