Hi, I'm new and is my platy pregnant?

ducatigirl

ducatigirl

AC Members
Jan 2, 2010
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Bunbury, Western Australia
Hello everyone.
This is my first post.
I have these 2 platys and I'm thinking they are pregnant and if they are, how would I know when they are going to lay?
I have a breeding tank, and also a big green ball, that another fry lives in. will they survive if I leave them in the tank with the 12 other fish?
I have platys, 2 angelfish, thin guppies(name?), and 1 fighter fish (Beta?).
I'm just not sure if I will know when to put her in the small fry/breeding tank, I dont want to stress her out, she went in there before and freaked out.
I am very new to having tropical fish, but am so addicted to them already.
Also is there any way to sex the angel fish, one is fatter than the other, she is white with a few black stripes.
thanks
I have added the photo links instead of embedding as they are large.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My%20pets/fish010.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My%20pets/fish030.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My%20pets/fish009.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My%20pets/fish002.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My%20pets/fish032.jpg
 
The fry (baby fish) will get eaten. You're angels look to be too small to sex at the moment. If you don't mind me asking, can we please get details on your tank? What size is it (gallon) and what type of filtration do you have on there?
 
ducatigirl said:
Hello everyone.
This is my first post.
I have these 2 platys and I'm thinking they are pregnant and if they are, how would I know when they are going to lay?
I have a breeding tank, and also a big green ball, that another fry lives in. will they survive if I leave them in the tank with the 12 other fish?
I have platys, 2 angelfish, thin guppies(name?), and 1 fighter fish (Beta?).
I'm just not sure if I will know when to put her in the small fry/breeding tank, I dont want to stress her out, she went in there before and freaked out.
I am very new to having tropical fish, but am so addicted to them already.
Also is there any way to sex the angel fish, one is fatter than the other, she is white with a few black stripes.
thanks
I have added the photo links instead of embedding as they are large.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My pets/fish010.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My pets/fish030.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My pets/fish009.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My pets/fish002.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1/ducatigirl67/My pets/fish032.jpg
Click to expand...

The "big green ball" is most likely a marimo ball. It is a type of moss. The fry would probably be eaten in the community tank...
From what it sounds like, the fry tank won't be large enough to hold a couple of angelfish and a betta...so if you are insistent on raising the platy fry you will probably just need to wait for its mother to give birth to it, and then find it and transfer it to the fry tank manually.
You could also QT (quarantine) the mother in her own little tank and remove her when she gives birth, and raise the baby by yourself. (Sorry, I don't know whether or not the mother will eat her fry)...
Keep in mind that the other fry may grow larger and eat your platy fry (or they may be incompatible)...also platies breed relatively easily and quickly as supposed to other aquarium fish.
Welcome to AC, by the way :)
 
halfmoonplakat said:
The "big green ball" is most likely a marimo ball. It is a type of moss.
Click to expand...

Marimo balls are actually made out of a type of algae.

Yes I know that was very off topic but I felt that was interesting about the marimo balls.

EDIT: if you are talking about the ball visible in one of the pics it is not marimo. Not sure what it really is tho.
 
if your platy is pregnant, which the 1st photo shows is most likely she is, she will get a squarish looking stomach just before she drops her fry - usually a day or so. The other fish as well as the platy mother will definitely eat the fry. The survival # of the fry will be low considering you have 2 angelfish and some guppies in that tank as well. I would advise you to have another tank set up and put the mother in that tank until she gives birth and then remove her, leaving the fry in that tank to be raised separately. In the 2nd tank have plenty of hiding places for the fry to avoid being eaten by the mother. Once she does give birth, you can expect her to drop more fry every 28 days, the same goes for the guppies. If you ever find out what the ball is, I'd like to know. It's a beautiful looking ball plant that I'd like for my guppy tank. Anyway, I hope this helps you. Good luck!
 
Is that ball plastic? Unless it's just the picture, it looks fake.
 
I agree about the ball - looks really neat. If it's real, I'd love to know what it is.

The first platy picture definitely looks pregnant. I'd say maybe within a week or so she'll drop her fry. Sometimes a water change with slightly cooler (note *slightly*) water will help to instigate birth. And odds are most fry will not survive unless you've got a LOT of hiding spots, which I don't see in that tank. You've got a lot of fish that will happily scarf up the baby fish.

As others mentioned, a separate tank while waiting for mom to drop the fry is probably your best bet if you intend on raising them - and keep in mind that she may well drop 100 fry. Depends on how old she is and how many times she's been pregnant before, but as they mature, they can drop a LOT of baby fish at a time, and as mentioned, she will drop fry every month or so for a while, and if you have a male platy (or molly or guppy - I believe they can all cross breed) in the tank, she'll keep on dropping fry monthly (or so) for a good long time.

Good luck - would like to see a full tank shot. Curious what size the tank is and what kind of filtration, etc.
 
I accidentally bought my platy pregnant. I figured she looked 'big' and healthy... ya she was big because she was prego lol. Unfortunately I only ended up with 2 babies. She had 12 from what I counted though. I really didn't do anything special and my tank doesn't have alot of hiding spots for fry. It sounds to me like you really want to keep yours though. Maybe wait until she has them and scoop them out and put them in the other tank.
 
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