Platy Questions

adamfalkofske

Awesome, thanks. I actually do feed them peas once a week like you said. She's just been that size for 40 days now.. I guess she's just fat haha

DragonFyre14

It probably was bad information. I found it on a couple different sites and (considering I don't currently have any experience with platys, just guppies) figured it couldn't hurt to add the whole range. :P sorry for the misinformation.

mandi85710

They do get very fat. She can also be eggbound as well. Sometimes if the male shoots blanks (I dont know how else to put it lol) or if he is not old enough yet then she will have a bunch of eggs in her belly that make her really fat. That was the problem with mine after my male died. I stopped breeding for a while and am now starting again so she is VERY pregnant right now. I will try and get a pic and attach it to this so you can see. Also again it is hard to tell if she is not pregnant at all because in early stages it is hard to tell through pictures you would have to see them in person to really be able to tell. But if she is egg bound as soon as the male can fertilize her that will take care of that...lol.

It's great that you give them peas once a week. When I heard that for the first time a LONG time ago I was like "WHAT" lol. But then one of my fish got dropsy and I lost her then started to give peas weekly to stop it from happening again. I know dropsy is actually a symptom and not the actual disease that has caused it but I have never had it again since I started feeding my fish weekly with peas. Plus they love them...lol. Especially my cichlids I have to throw a few in at one time or they all fight each other to get the one. Learned that the hard way when my Black Convict took a bite out of my other Black Convict. But its a treat and good for them as well so no harm no foul with that one!

Another thing to tell if they have more time to go is that the eyes will be farther away from the anal fin and as she is getting within a few days they all of the sudden all get really close to the anal fin and her weight will shift to more of it being towards the anal fin and less towards the front. That is in my experience. Every fish is different so it is hard to tell you with 100% accuracy how she is going to act or how long she will have. Also best bet is if you are planning on raising the fry and selling them and continuing breeding write down the day she has her first fry. They become pregnant again 4-6 hours after they drop their last fry. Same with all livebearers unless of course she has no male and has already used all of her stored sperm from the male. Then I would say add her into the breeder box at about 26-27 days pregnant depending on how she looks also. Some fish get bullied when they get close to dropping because the others are like oh lunch. So if she is getting bullied you can do that also.

Sounds like you are doing everything right for her though. If you decide you aren't keeping the fry I still let her have them in the breeder box (my girls) bc the males and other fish pic on them during delivery and that can stress them out and cause more problems. Then I just released them all and they would hide under ornaments and also in the gravel. So the tough ones will make it through. I had 32 that made it after I did that so that is why I am breeding again because of having so many and their colors are amazing because the dad is black and yellow with sparkly flecks on him as well. So I have a lot of people that want them. OK I talk so much so I will stop now...lol. Good luck and here is a pic of my girl for you so you can see how she will look with about a week to go give or take a few days but mine has 6 days until 28 day gestation. Good luck and keep me posted and also if you have any questions feel free to pm or message on here and I will answer anything I can help with!!!

I added 3 pictures so you can see. It is kind of hard to see the eyes on camera though but you can. And you can also see what I mean about how her weight is starting to shift from more towards the front to the back!!! Hope these help a little!!!

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adamfalkofske

Holy crap. Thanks for the info.

I'm 95% certain I can see those eggs, just like in your pictures. Maybe the male she mated with was, indeed, shooting blanks? Would she not drop the fry due to parameters in the tank? Just tested them last night:

pH: 7.6
Temp: 75 F
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5-10 ppm

mandi85710

I hope I didn't come across rude I wasn't trying to be at all. Sorry if I did. I completly understand where you are coming from with adding that all on there. I have never heard of a Platy going for 7 weeks before and mine are usually 99% dropping at 28 days. I had one that dropped at 30 days but it was her first drop and I also had to help her deliver some because they were getting stuck. But guppies are definitely way different in my experience as well...lol. They are baby making machines...lol. I have created some really pretty fancy tailed ones though with mixing of different colors. I separate my males and females at about 3 weeks because they can have their first drop at 3 months old which means they got preggers at 2 months.

I do that though so that I can keep the females pure so that I can mix the colors I like later and I usually wait until they are about 5-6 months old before I breed them because it is so hard on them especially at 3 months old being so small I lost a lot of guppies that way. I keep ones that have the best colors at around 4 months and the others I sell. I have a 50G setup that I use for all my fry since I can't mix them with the adults until they are about 2 months old if I were to want them to breed but I keep them in the big tank and add new fry when they are dropped by others. I just got rid of 400 fish that were 2 1/2 months old. Molly's, Platy's and guppies as well. That was from 5 Guppy, 4 Platy and 3 molly drops. It's crazy how many fry guppies can have compared to Platy's and molly's though. The largest drop my one Guppy we call big mama was 223. All live births and non eaten that I know of. I had to keep moving the fry while she was still delivering because there was no more room in the breeder. But that was a huge drop. She was in the breeder for about a week and a half before she delivered because she couldn't swim so she wasn't eating. I was worried she was going to pass also after having that many but she made it and is as huge as a house again ready to drop in a couple of days.

But again I didn't mean to sound rude if I did and if I did I do very much appologize for that.

adamfalkofske

Good lord. That puts octomom to shaaaaaame

mandi85710

Raise your temp in your tank to 80F. That makes them drop if there is an issue also if they are ready. On a norm I would say keep it between 76 and 80 anyway because they do like the warmer water. Do you have brackish water or fresh water? Everything else looks good. Just watch your nitrate and ammonia levels because after a fish has a drop you could get an ammonia spike. I always do at least a 25% water change after a drop.

If her eggs are like my girls then I would say she has about a week to go. She could of had a drop already before and it was a small one and you didn't see it happen. She is small so she probably didn't have a big drop if she did have one. Also since they deliver in the early morning unless you are a early morning person or a very late night person like I am you can miss it. So chances are she probably had a small drop before and then is plump so didn't get really tiny and then was pregnant again. Or she could of had a spontaneous abortion if she was under any stress or if your water levels weren't good at the time either. But that is in the past and you cant go back and figure all of that out...lol.

If you have a freshwater tank you could also add a little aquarium salt to the water. Tropicals like Platy's like brackish water. I do one tablespoon per 10G of water. But everything else looks good. She will probably have a drop in about a week if she looks like mine.

adamfalkofske

Awesome, thanks again for all the info. I'll keep you posted. Also.. let's hope I don't have to deal with upwards of 200 baby fish haha

mandi85710

You very welcome. I don't think you will have that issue with a Platy...lol. They don't have huge drops like guppies do. Like I said before guppies are baby making machines....lol. For as small as they are you would never think they would have that many but they pop out way more fry than any other livebearer. You should expect based on an age of around 6 months her dropping probably between about 30-40 fry!!! Max my Platy has dropped was 52 and she is small also but plump so you never know. Ok looking forward to seeing pics of the little ones when they arrive!!!

DragonFyre14

Wow... 200+ babies... I've only had my guppies for almost 2 months. So far, I've only caught 7 babies. guess thats probably for the better.... I'll be over run soon enough... :P
good luck with your Platy!