platies breeding

A

attiladahun

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Mar 11, 2005
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hey all

i've had my 2 sunset fire platies since mid-july. one is male, the other female, and they're both healthy. the problem is that they arent breeding. maybe i just dont know what the signs are of a pregnant female(as far as i know, it's reclusiveness and a kind of bulge in the stomach). my ph is basic and as far as i know, the conditions in their 10- gallon tank are prime. also, i want to move them to a 20-gal so i can shut down my 10 gal, can i use plain old ziploc sandwich bags for moving them?

thanks
 
Are you certain that you have a male and a female? My platies don't seem to stop breeding. Also, how long have you had them? How big is your tank and what type of decorations do you have in it? Do you have plants? Live or fake? What is the lighting like? What are the rest of your readings on the water?
 
i think my ph is about 7.4. the petco guy said they were male and female, and they have different "parts" if you know what i mean. their current tank is 10-gal, and i've ahd them for almost 4 months, and they havent bred at all in that whole time.
 
Do you have any plants? Also, it's usually better to have at least two females to one male. I've only had my platys for about 3 months (4 females and 2 males) and I have had at least 3 batches of fry. The first batch got eaten because I didn't have good places for them to hide. I added some fine leaved plants like hornwort and java moss and I have several fry from the last two batches that are a couple weeks old and a month or so old. What do you feed and how often? What is your maintenance routine? How about nitrAte levels? Usually platys breed like bunnies! Can you post pictures of yours?

I haven't noticed reclusiveness until they are just about ready to drop. They do get very round and then almost squarish but they look like they're ready to burst! They usually will have a gravid spot, a dark spot on the abdomen just above and in front of the anal fin. It's actually the eyes of the fry. They usually give birth at dawn (although I witnessed one of mine giving birth at 11:00pm...can't believe I actually saw it!)

Is there anything else in the tank with them? Does the male chase the female at all?
 
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I thought this thread was going to be about getting platys to STOP breeding.

My girlfriend had some, and they spawned 4 times in something like 4 months, and she wasnt even trying. I think that perhaps they are both mail or female, or maybe they are expecting and you just can't tell.

A pregnant platy doesnt really have an obvious bulge, it just gets generally fat, which is surprisingly easy not to notice.

If all else fails, maybe your tank just needs the proper scenery for them to hide in. I'm no expert, but my girlfriend's tank had a sunken ship with a nice big cave. Maybe thats where the magic happens? :p:
 
The Goose said:
A pregnant platy doesnt really have an obvious bulge, it just gets generally fat, which is surprisingly easy not to notice.
Click to expand...

My platys did have obvious bulges. They looked like they swallowed marbles! But the females can store sperm for awhile so yours may have mated but she wants more hiding places. Get lots of plants.
 
as far as moving them, as long as your water temps are the same you can just put them in there. either use a net if the tanks are close to each other, or catch them and put them in a small container to move them from one tank to the other if there is some distance between them.
 
all the plants in the 10-gal they're in now are fake. if and when i put them into the 20-gal, i will add some live plants. i dont have any cave-like spots in either tank, and i want to keep the look as natural as possible. how would pvc pipe caves work, if they would work, how would you make them, with what size pvc. the two tanks are in my bedroom, about 5 feet apart, and all water comes from the same sink, so do you think that the conditions will be equal enough for transfering the fish without a bag or floating them? there is an odessa barb living in the same tank as the platies, but they all seem to get along nicely.

anyone who answers all these questions is a saint :bowing: :bowing: :bowing: :bowing:
 
just make sure the temps are the same. most people just float the bag for 15 minutes to get the bag water the same temp as the tank water, then add the fish. if temps are the same, there's no waiting.

pvc is the least natural thing you could put in there, why not just use some driftwood?
 
They don't have to have real plants. Plastic or silk are fine, you just want lots of them. The fine leaved plants are best for the fry to hide in.
 
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