Seperating fish for birth.

nawilson89

I have multiple Platy and a Guppy who are all pregnant and seem like they are ready to explode. On my Guppy the gravid spot is extremely visible but on my Platy its harder to see because they are a darker color. I had my Guppy in my little plastic breeding container for two days and nothing happened, she was more concerned about trying to escape then pop out her children.

I took her out and decided to giver her a few more days and trying again, meanwhile i've gone to my Platy tank and put my two largest female in the container (it has a separator). It's been a day and they are pretty calm. Last time they dropped fry, which was about a month ago, it seemed like a slow process in the tank and i got about 20 fry over a week period.

Chesherca

I don't have Platy, but I've had many guppies born in my tanks. I've seen them drop anywhere from 20+ fry within a very short time, and also had them have 2-3 fry every day or so for a week or so. From what I've read, this is normal, and can depend on many factors (age of the fish, how many broods she has had, water conditions, etc). Personally, I don't separate live bearers for birth anymore. With some fish, it seems to stress them out to be contained (my mollies are like this), with others (guppies) the fry seem to have a higher survival rate staying in the main tank with lots of floating plants until I can 'rescue' them, and plop them into a breeder basket or a grow out tank. Maybe it's just MY guppies - but they're voracious, and seem to find it much easier to eat their young when they're in a more confined place!

Good luck with your babies!

nawilson89

Ty for the response! My first batch of fry was used with floating plants in the main tank, but I had to plant them because i noticed that some of my other plants were beginning to dwindle and die. I miss having the floating plants, Ill probably just arrange my tanks so that the other plants are in a tank that have ample lighting and my Platy tank gets some dense cover though. Much to think about! thank you!

fish monger

I put 4 Platy (2 females,2 males) in a 55 gallon tank for cycling about 12 days ago. The tank has exploded with fry in the last 5 days. I don't have a lot of cover in the tank but, they seem to do a good job of hiding when necessary. You'd probably have a decent survival rate providing lots of cover and just leaving everybody in the same tank.