xSweeneyx

I'm new here, so I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask.

I currently have 3 mickey mouse platys, and a dalmatian molly.

I /think/ my female platy is pregnant, but I'm not sure. Is there some way to tell?

If she is pregnant, should I move her? The male keeps chasing her and the other female, and I don't want her to get stressed and end up aborting the babies.

And also, I'm planning on getting another female and male molly, but the only ones at the petstore are lyre tails. The one I have now has a regular tail, but if I were to get a lyre tail male, would they be able to breed?

Is it obvious that I have no idea what I'm talking about? xD

*Edit* Whoops. It looks like I should have looked a bit harder and put this in the breeding fish forum. Can anyone move this for me?

Barbrella

IF you have male and female livebearers together, the females will pretty much be perpetually pregnant and giving birth. Their bellies get big when they are carrying fry.

You can separate the female if you like, but need to think what you're going to do with all the fry you'll have.

All mollies, no matter their colours or tails, will breed. Non stop!

xSweeneyx

Should I keep her with another female, just because they are schooling fish?
Or keep her by herself until she gives birth?

I'm pretty certain about what I'm doing with the fry. Some of my friends are looking for new editions to their tank, and the platies will fit in nicely. They have a big enough tank and other peaceful fish, guppies, etc.

And if worst comes to worst, I'm pretty sure the local pet stores will take them as well.

Shawnie

most LFS wont take livebearers as they have so many of their own....I hope she does ok

xSweeneyx

Oh by the way, if I were to keep her in the same tank, and she did give birth, would she and the other fish be big enough to eat the fry?

My fish aren't fully grown yet, all of them are about a skinny 1-1.5 inches.

Shawnie

Yes they would but some ppl do that so they dont get overwhelmed with fry..having alot of plants and hiding spots allow some to make it tho

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

If you have males and females, the females are pregnant. You'll want to remember 2 things with them.. 1) 2-3 females for each male and 2) 1 gallon per ADULT inch. How big is your tank?

xSweeneyx

I think I have a 6 gallon tank. I'm thinking about getting a new tank though, and I was looking at a couple. Would something like this work?:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2754151

And also, I was looking at a breeding net thing, and this one seems cheap and stuff. Give me some advice?
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2751023

I have never done anything like this before, so I don't really understand the two way/ three way/net breeder thing. Can someone explain this?

Shawnie

well..with a 6 gallon tank, and no babies yet, you are already overstocked..so a new tank is the best idea..with just the fish you have, you should get at least a 20 gallon...and depending on what you do with your babies, even bigger is better...goodluck!

COBettaCouple

I'd recommend as big of a tank as you can for the fry. I'd not bother with those breeder boxes and just move the fry to their own tank after the females drop them.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...0&c=3578+3584& - for filtration, I'd use sponge filters like this. Add an airstone and a heater and it's pretty much setup. The bottom should be left bare and I'd put a few caves and fake plants in for them to feel more secure.

xSweeneyx

Will the little platy fry eat powdered flakes or should I culture some infusoria?

COBettaCouple

They'll eat flakes crushed to powder. I personally like to mix omega one veggie flakes and cyclopeeze flakes and crush that for fry. BBS or other tiny live food would be good for them too, if you wanted to make that part of their diet schedule.

xSweeneyx

Where can I buy live food like blood worms, and brine shrimp? Do they sell them at local pet stores?

COBettaCouple

Usually, you have to grow your own life food.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...5&c=3578+7954& - I use a couple of the shrimpery kits to grow BBS for our Angel fry.

You can get frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. Those would be good, as platys don't really need much, if any, meat content in their diet. They love it, but I think they'd love anything edible the way those little stomachs with fins eat.

xSweeneyx

EEEEEE! xD I found one baby yesterday when I was cleaning out the tank. It was in the sink, so I'm thinking I probably flushed the rest down the drain I didn't think the babies would be coming so early.

Btw, the female still looks really pretty fat. Is there a chance she could drop more babies? She dropped the one I found sometime last night.

COBettaCouple

She'll drop more. They stay pregnant and drop around 4-6 times.

xSweeneyx

You mean she'll drop more from this batch? Or I have to wait another 20 some days for her to drop again?

COBettaCouple

She'll drop a batch every 25-28 days approximately.

Each time she drops, most fry come out with the initial drop but she can drop some more in the 5 days following the initial drop.

xSweeneyx

Ohh, okay, great!
I guess I'll keep checking for those babies then The mother looks super fat.

xSweeneyx

GRRR. Still no more babies. Why isn't she dropping any more?

COBettaCouple

Check the water parameters and temp.

xSweeneyx

Last night, she was hiding behind the plants and her tail was jerked to either side of her body, so I thought she might be ready to have her babies. This morning, I woke up, she's still fat, and there are still /no babies./ I can't test for water parameters and stuff, because I don't have a kit, but I'll be getting one.

COBettaCouple

You might start doing daily water changes of 30-50%. You may have water chemistry problems - that is one reason they'll hold the fry sometimes.

xSweeneyx

I've been changing the water quite frequently. My red wag platy gave birth yesterday, and I'm so happy There are about 20+ of them. They are so cutee!

So if the red wag was able to give birth, I'm not sure why the mickey mouse platy is still holding :/

COBettaCouple

What's the current water temp? They really can vary in pregnancy so hopefully she'll drop soon.

xSweeneyx

Ooohhh dearr...
I've been watching the pregnant one for a while, and she started giving birth. She's dropped 3 or 4 so far, and they've all been dead. They look like they're underdeveloped.
The female has eaten them all, and I think she's still going, so I'm still watching her, hoping that she'll drop some healthy, live babies.

COBettaCouple

They may have not fertilized properly.