scripted2change

Hello,
I am not sure if my fish are pregnant the one i just got today and te other i have had for about a week. Could someone please help me. Thanks

scripted2change

here is the other..

Callum The Cat

scripted2change

Here are better photos the others arent clear..

armadillo

Is that platy in a small bowl?

Chief_waterchanger

It does look pregnant to me, but Callum is correct in his assumption. If a male platy has access to a couple of female platies the chances are they will be pregnant.

Although the platies will need to be in trios so that the male doesn't harass the females to death. (trio= 1m, 2fm) And as such a trio of platies would need to be in a 10 gallon if you are planning to breed them. With plenty of dense plants for the babies to use for hiding.

COBettaCouple

i'd say the odds are in favor of them being pregnant.

scripted2change

Ok thanks i asked because i wasnt sure if i should put them with my other fish. They are in a 55 gallon tank at the moment.

Sam Livingston

They need own tank if want the babies to survive, and need area bigger than bowl; I'd suggest nothing smaller than 5.5 Gallon for breeding tank, then just leave babies in their and move the mothers back to main tank (currently have 7 or 8 pregnant platies, including 3 about to pop). Platies need to learn to keep it in their pants.

Callum The Cat

Sam Livingston

Other fish are in the 50 gallon tank, which will eat the fry; therefore need own tank for fry

COBettaCouple

a seperate tank for pregnant females will give the fry a better chance to survive, with the mothers taken out after they're done dropping fry.

scripted2change

Hey.. I wanted to just update the photos and see what you all think. These photos are all of the same fish. She does haveblack at the end. Of the 2 photos posted the first time she is the one that has the most black. Here are the latest pix. What do you think.I have moved her to a large fish bowl for the time being because she has gotten bigger and i dont want to risk if she is pregnant. I will be putting her back in with the others if she doesnt have anything soon.

Attached Images

	fish1.jpg (26.9 KB, 23 views)
	fish2.jpg (24.7 KB, 22 views)
	fish3.jpg (28.2 KB, 19 views)

scripted2change

here is the old pic

Attached Images

oldpic.jpg (20.4 KB, 23 views)

scripted2change

I just wanted to let everyone know she was pregnant. She had 38 babies last night. She is in with another female and when she gave birth they didnt eat any of them. Actually the babies were near both of them and swimming together. Maybe it's possible because i feed them well.

COBettaCouple

congrats on the fry. are they in their own tank now? what kind of filtration and feeding do you have for them?

scripted2change

Yes i have them in a tank of their own. The fliter i forget what kind it is. I know i got it at walmart. A lot of the pet stores around here use them and they work very well. I just had to put something over it to protect the babies from getting sucked up. Only issue i have is that it definetly doesnt suck everything up so how can i possibly get to clean lets say the bottom of the tank?.. As for the food everyone said you can use flakes so i have been giving them that and one other type of food. SO far all has been well. I feed them 3/4 times a day as they have been eating the food that falls to the bottom of the tank.

COBettaCouple

the best thing we found to cover the intake tube of a filter (if you have one with a long intake tube that has slots or holes on the end) is to turn it off and take the intake out, then we take netting cut from a fish net and use a rubber band wrapped around it over & over so that it's tight and holding the netting in place. unless your fry are bigger than the netting holes, this should keep them out and allow most stuff to be sucked in like normal. You could use a turkey baster to suck any large debris that gets stuck off.

Chief_waterchanger

Another method, (Dave's is good, but just a different way of doing it, so you have more options) we use pretty thick sponges, cut a hole in them lengthwise in the center and slip them over the intake valve. That provides more surface for bacteria, a good place for microfauna for the babies, and keeps the current down.

As for getting poop off of the bottom, buy a very thin length of airhose. Like the width of a pea or something nearly that small, and siphon out into a bucket. You can go slow along the bottom of the tank and get the fecal matter without running too much of a risk of getting the babies, and if you are draining into a bucket you can pull out any babies that choose to take the rollercoaster of fun.

COBettaCouple

sounds like a hybrid power/sponge filter kind of. i love the idea for cleaning the bottom. we'll have to look for real thin airhose for the next time we have a batch of fry.

scripted2change

I have been cleaning the bottom which the hose and not using anything actually. I have the light on so i am can see all of the babies. They are about 10 days old now so they are getting bigger so it isnt as hard anymore. I clean the bottom of the tanks 2 times a week so that means i change about 30% of the water each time so do you think that is good enough for a week?..

COBettaCouple

it sounds good. water testing would confirm for sure.

scripted2change

Another one of my fish had 46 babies as of so far. also where can i get the strips to test my water for free. Also how many fish for a 10 gallon. have platys, guppies, and mollies.

COBettaCouple

you don't want the strips - they're notoriously inaccurate and in the long run, you can save money by using a liquid testing kit. This is the one we use:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113074
it's much more accurate and you can do many, many, many tests from 1 kit and spend less money.

for stocking a tank, the general guideline for small fish is 1 gallon of water per adult inch of fish. So you could stock up to 10" (adult size) of fish in the 10 gallon tank. That would work out to about 5 platys or 6 guppies.