pregnant or sick??

[diane6]

I have a platy (?) in a 6 gallon aquarium. She has been in there since the beginning of January. She was always more plump than her sister, but now she looks like she's about to explode. I thought she was pregnant but now I think it is almost impossible, given the time she has been big. I can't find a disease that would make her stomach this big, but absolutely no other symptoms. She has good appetite, poops well, swims around, friendly etc... ???????

I just checked water, I have to do a water change... I have about .5 nitrite in there... and about 5-10 nitrates... Will do that now....

She is the one on the top....

 

[diane6]

I just did a 90% water change. Anyone know if she could be sick?

 

[THE V]

The sister isn't a sister... it's a boy.

You've got a male and female platy making babies in your tank.

 

[diane6]

:22_yikes: Are you serious??!! What is the difference between the male and female?? The tails look the same??? I think??

 

[Trigger1985]

Swordtails are the ones with different tails, not platys. While they can be interbred, they are different species. On a platy look at the anal fin, The females will be a delta, a nice round smooth fin. On the male, it will look like a spike- pointing backwards
.

Drawing blatently ripped off from http://sogua.mamakcorner.com

 

[diane6]

Thank you Trigger! Feeling quite silly right now...! I guess I was thinking of swordtails! The difference in real life isn't as pronounced as the picture, but my daughter has confirmed that one is boy and one definitely girl! We are planning the baby shower. :woot:

 

[Trigger1985]

No problem, no worries on feeling silly, I had to explain the difference to a worker at a LFS who had worked there for years. So if he didn't know, no one can expect you to, haha.

For maximum baby success, get some dense plants- live or fake. Hornwort works pretty well free floated as a mat, and most of the chain stores sell fake versions that float- gives the babies a place to hide from there hungry parents.

 

[Jakezori]

Swordtails are the ones with different tails, not platys. While they can be interbred, they are different species. On a platy look at the anal fin, The females will be a delta, a nice round smooth fin. On the male, it will look like a spike- pointing backwards
.

Drawing blatently ripped off from http://sogua.mamakcorner.com

rofl, that drawing is beautiful...

def prego