Baby platy fish

[Melissa&Jeff]

Hello everyone!

My fiance Jeff upgraded in June from a 5 gallon tank to a 20 gallon tank. He has 7 neon tetras, 1 platy, 2 cory catfish, and one pleco.

Recently he saw what he thought was food floating in the tank, turns out it's baby fish! He couldn't tell what they were, but now that they have grown we think we know what they are--baby platy fish! It must have been pregnant when he bought it, but that was at the end of July. Does anyone know the length of pregnancy for platy fish?

We sure never expected this to happen & we don't know what to do about the babies, there are about 8-10 of them. I'm surprised the other fish didn't eat them when they were tiny. I thought people usually had to buy special equipment to breed fish, such as grassy stuff for them to hide in & tank dividers, etc... We sure weren't planning to have babies! I guess we will have to see if any pet stores want them or if anyone we know has a tank. Right now they are almost as big as the tetras were when we first got them--about 1/4 to 1/2 inch or so. They are starting to turn orange and show spots. Pretty cute lil things.

We had read some about platys, and heard it would be good to get a pair, but we got just 1 to start. Nothing we read said anything about watching for babies. In fact, we assumed our platy was a male. Silly us! Glad we have this forum to read for info now.

Also, about the pleco--the pet store we got it from said it wouldn't get very big like some of them do. I hope they were right. If it gets too big we will have to find it a new home or get a bigger tank.

After reading some threads here I feel like a real fish newbie!

-Melissa

 

[aquariumfishguy]

What kind of Pleco is it? If it is the common kind, they get well over a foot long, and yes - they'll need a 55+ gallon tank. However, some Plecos stay smaller... although 20 gallons is still pretty small for these fish.

Platys usually stay pregnant for about a month... could be less or more, but not by much.

 

[Melissa&Jeff]

What kind of Pleco is it? If it is the common kind, they get well over a foot long, and yes - they'll need a 55+ gallon tank. However, some Plecos stay smaller... although 20 gallons is still pretty small for these fish.

Platys usually stay pregnant for about a month... could be less or more, but not by much.

The pet store that we got the pleco from just called it a "small pleco", and said it wouldn't get too big for our tank. From what I am learning now though they may have been just saying that...

Thanks.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

Yes - and I am more suspicious then ever that this is in fact a common Pleco. Unfortunately, most Plecos are big or medium sized anyway. A small Pleco is a rare one... I would check into that. Good luck!