jrlang731

This may be a stupid question but I just got a new platy about a week ago and I noticed tonight that my guppy is following her around as if he is courting her and I wonder if she may be giving birth and he is going behind and cleaning up after her. She is really fat and I a pretty sure she is pregos but I am pretty new to keeping fish (been doing it for about a month). Should I keep her separate? I dont really have a "Tank" per se but I do have something I can keep her in at least over night. Is that dangerous for her? Thank you for any advice!

Jennifer Lang

Jaysee

It's almost as hard to find fish that don't eat fry as it is to find fish that don't eat eggs. Even ghost shrimp can snag a fry here and there.

aquarist48

Hello Jennifer and Welcome to Fish Lore. It does indeed sound like your Platy is pregnant. Should she give birth inside the tank the fry could very well be eaten by other tank mates, this also includes the parents. You can purchase breeding boxes that float in your tank to house the expecting mom in. Sometimes this may cause a lot of stress for the mom though. You just never know. Personally I would leave mom in the tank or give her a tank of her home to birth. If you leave her in the main tank, make sure the babies have plenty of places to hide. This way you might have a few to survive.
Best of luck and keep us posted. We love photos around here as well
Have fun and enjoy the site. Best of luck!
Ken

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore Jennifer

I have platys and guppies in one of my tanks as well. Most tankmates will eat any fry in the tank if they can find them. I keep floating plants, like java moss and duckweed in the tank for the fry to hide in. Once I see them, I take them out and put them in a breeder net inside the tank for a few weeks.

Hope this helps!

Meenu

Hi,
You don't mention your plans for the fry as they get bigger. I don't know how many fish you have in your 10 gallon tank, but platies and guppies breed a lot. You are going to have them completely overstock your tank, if it isn't already overstocked. If you have 2 mollies, 2 guppies, and 2 platies, you are already overstocked, especially since mollies get to be about 4 inches big.

You may want to consider just leaving the fry in the tank and let nature take its course, or think about getting a bigger tank. And your fish will keep breeding, so if you want fry a little later, you can rescue some once you've gotten more experience with the tank and the breeding process.

Just my two cents. Good luck with the fry!