Question about female platy

[animal_man1738]

Recently, I bought a female platy and 3 male platys from a local store(I meant to buy 2 male 2 female but the guy sold me a "female" that was actually a dude). I brought them home, on the intention of breeding them. The female, however, is much longer and thinner than the males, and is not getting pregnant(i think). How can I tell if she is pregnant, and how do I reduce the stress on her without buying more fish? Thanks!

 

[fluttermoth]

Platies should breed without any intervention from you, but if it's a young female, it might be a month or two.

If you can't get more fish, then you'll have to think about rehoming some males; perhaps your shop will swap some? You must, always, have more female livebearers than males.

Just so we can rule out anything else that might be going on, could you give us some more details of your set up, please?
How big is the tank?
Is it filtered and heated?
Is it cycled, and have you been testing the water?
Is your water hard or soft?
Does the tank have live plants?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more information we have, the better we can help

 

[Demeter32]

A healthy female platy should never be thinner than a male, even if she is not pregnant. I think something might be going on here.

You need to fix your male/female ratio. At least 3 females to ever male for live bearers or the males are likely to stress the females to death.

To add to fluttermoth's questions, have you seen the female eat or does she spit it back out?

 

[animal_man1738]

Platies should breed without any intervention from you, but if it's a young female, it might be a month or two.

If you can't get more fish, then you'll have to think about rehoming some males; perhaps your shop will swap some? You must, always, have more female livebearers than males.

Just so we can rule out anything else that might be going on, could you give us some more details of your set up, please?
How big is the tank?
Is it filtered and heated?
Is it cycled, and have you been testing the water?
Is your water hard or soft?
Does the tank have live plants?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more information we have, the better we can help

Platies should breed without any intervention from you, but if it's a young female, it might be a month or two.

If you can't get more fish, then you'll have to think about rehoming some males; perhaps your shop will swap some? You must, always, have more female livebearers than males.

Just so we can rule out anything else that might be going on, could you give us some more details of your set up, please?
How big is the tank?
Is it filtered and heated?
Is it cycled, and have you been testing the water?
Is your water hard or soft?
Does the tank have live plants?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more information we have, the better we can help

The Tank is 55 gallons, with a fluval canister filter(which needs to be cleaned). It is heated at 80 degrees F. I think it is cycled, and the water quality is good. The tank has no live plants. As for the whole male/ female thing, would it be ok if I got 3 females, so I have 4 females 4 males? Thanks.

 

[fish boi]

The Tank is 55 gallons, with a fluval canister filter(which needs to be cleaned). It is heated at 80 degrees F. I think it is cycled, and the water quality is good. The tank has no live plants. As for the whole male/ female thing, would it be ok if I got 3 females, so I have 4 females 4 males? Thanks.

I would get 5 more females so it 6 females and 4 males

 

[animal_man1738]

A healthy female platy should never be thinner than a male, even if she is not pregnant. I think something might be going on here.

You need to fix your male/female ratio. At least 3 females to ever male for live bearers or the males are likely to stress the females to death.

To add to fluttermoth's questions, have you seen the female eat or does she spit it back out?

she barely eats, not a lot tho. She is getting thinner by the day, and I can tell somethings not right. I plan to get more females this weekend. Is it just stress r is there some sort of problem(virus parasite etc) Thank you so much for all your help

 

[Demeter32]

I think it would be a good idea to treat all the fish for internal parasites. Prazipro should do the job if you can find any in the store. It's pretty cheap for the amount of water it treats. It won't harm your cycle either, just remember to remove the active carbon so the meds can do their job.