Sexing Baby Platies

[PrairieSunflower]

My babies are currently 2 weeks old and my very first batch of baby platies. Up until now, I've only had guppy fry and I have always been able to figure out 80% of the females by this point.

Thing is... my platy babies are really light in color, transparent to light yellow... will I even be able to see the gravid spots on them in the next couple of weeks? At the moment, I can't see anything whatsoever to make me suspect male or female.

 

[xXKratosXx]

Gravid spot is only really apparent when the platy is pregnant. The only real way to sex platys is by looking for a gonopodium. which somethings will not be notable until 3-4 months of age, sometimes longer depending on the speed of the maturation process of the fish.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Oooooo, they are really slow developers then!

 

[xXKratosXx]

Sometimes, but it really varies from individual to individual. Just keep a look out for fin changes

 

[snazy]

Guppies are easy. The females have visible tiny black(gravid) spots when two weeks old and even less.
But with my platies I can't tell until they develop a gonopodium. Mine are red so no black/gravid spot is visible at any stage, even when pregnant. I had males and females separated for months(maybe 8months) until one day a male appeared in my female tank and got everyone pregnant

So in rare cases the males can be very late developers but generally from what I can remember by the 2nd-3rd month they do develop a gonopodium.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Mine are just days away from 1 month now! Feels like forever! I have two favorites and REALLY want them to be girls because then I will be able to keep them for sure. I find myself looking at body shape and thinking the rounder ones must be girls but my friends says that isn't a sign either.

 

[comocrayfish5]

guppies and platies are different, it takes a few months and even with guppies gravid spots are not a good way to tell, just wait

 

[snazy]

guppies and platies are different, it takes a few months and even with guppies gravid spots are not a good way to tell, just wait

 
How is it not? I've never had a male baby guppy with a gravid spot.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Exactly.

 

[comocrayfish5]

sorry, my friend was using my account. i think she means what sometimes male guppy fry have a teeny tiny spot that, if looked closely at, could be mistaken for a gravit spot.
 
my advise is to wait until the fry fully develop, the males will eventually develop their 'special' fin

 

[snazy]

sorry, my friend was using my account. i think she means what sometimes male guppy fry have a teeny tiny spot that, if looked closely at, could be mistaken for a gravit spot.
 
my advise is to wait until the fry fully develop, the males will eventually develop their 'special' fin

 
That teeny tiny black spot is indeed the gravid spot and that indicates a female. Again, I've never had a male with that spot and I separate my males and females at very early age without any of the ones with a tiny black spot becoming males.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, the only questionable guppy I ever had looked female for ages (in shape and finage) but never had a gravid spot... turned out to be a very late blooming boy with a pale blue body color.

 

[Paradise3]

Males and Females can develop a fake "gravid spot" when young. I've had males with "gravid spots" before. The spots disappeared when they grew their gonopodiums. Also, young females can get fake "gravid spots" when young. I've had completely virgin females with "gravid spots" that turned out to be nothing and disappeared soon after.

 

[snazy]

The gravid spot is not an indication that the guppy is pregnant. All females have small black dots when very young. The shape of the body doesn't indicate if it's a male or female. Actually body shape like they all look like females for quite a long time and some males are quite chunky.
Are you sure the "males" with "gravid" spots were actually the same fish you are refering to when they grew up and you didn't mix them up? Did you separate males from females once you sexed them? With guppies I never got even one wrong.

 

[Paradise3]

The gravid spot is not an indication that the guppy is pregnant. All females have small black dots when very young. The shape of the body doesn't indicate if it's a male or female. Actually body shape like they all look like females for quite a long time and some males are quite chunky.
Are you sure the "males" with "gravid" spots were actually the same fish you are refering to when they grew up and you didn't mix them up? Did you separate males from females once you sexed them? With guppies I never got even one wrong.

 
I used to line breed guppies which meant separating male and female as soon as possible to prevent young females from becoming pregnant so that I could mate them with whichever male I choose when they are old enough

So yes the "males" with "gravid spots" were the same ones. Some of them kept them till after the had developed Gonopodiums but that only happened every now and then. I also never said the gravid spot indicated pregnancy...

I also stated that all my females had "gravid spots" when young.