a&j's_tank

i introduced two females and now my male platty is hidding, and running them around, i just want to make sure that this is ok

sirdarksol

Possibly. Just as long as the male isn't being rammed and just as long as he's given a chance to eat (I lost two mollies when a pregnant female kept them from eating).

a&j's_tank

he comes out to eat, and he come sout for like 5mins and just hides

sirdarksol

Not generally normal. You might want to try giving the females a "time out" in a breeding net, if you have one (or can get one), and give the male a chance to re-explore and reclaim his world.
As long as he's eating and isn't getting hurt, he should live, but he won't thrive.

a&j's_tank

i just looked at the tank and hes now following a female around..so i am geussing hes fine

COBettaCouple

Yea, that sounds more like typical behavior for a male platy. You'll have fry within 6 weeks.

sirdarksol

Probably felt outnumbered for awhile. Figured out that the newcomers are female. He should be okay.

a&j's_tank

hey thanks for the help?
um i have no clue on what with fry, i had mollys breed, and i had one live, he died awhile ago, he got sucked up into my filter(were talking a fun size molly)

sirdarksol

With fry, you need to keep the filter intake covered by fine mesh. Otherwise, they'll get sucked in.
Aside from that, the parents tend to be cannibals, so if you want a significant number of them to survive, it's best to put the pregnant female into a breeder's net shortly before she gives birth, then pull her out.

a&j's_tank

i will need help when they become pregnet

COBettaCouple

The first thing we did with our Platys was switch over to flat glass marbles for the substrate (gives them places to hide from the big fish). In one corner, I put a lot of plants close together to give them a quiet corner to drop fry when the time came.

After a female dropped fry, I would take the adults out, then the decorations and marbles (carefully).. putting the fish in 1 covered container and the other stuff in another container with enough tank water to cover it all. Then I could find the fry and move them all to a cup that I floated in another tank that we had ready for the fry.

The fry tank has a bare bottom with a few plants and caves. The filter would be either a sponge filter or a regular filter with fish net netting tightly wrapped around the intake and held in place with a rubber band.