First Time Breeding!

H! I'm new to fish lore and just want to say that this is the best site i've found for help an tips on aquarium fish!



Anyway on with the HELP! topic! I am fairly new to fish keeping and after the long Long LONG process of cycling my tank have just finished adding the fish to my tank, with the latest editions being 6 Platys (2 male, 4 Female) the only problem is that I found I bought a female that was already pregnant (without me knowing!) and within days of being in the tank has given birth in my main tank!!!! now i'm not too sure on the quantitys of young they have (which is going to be one of my questions) and fear that my other fish have consumed them before I had a chance to do anything about it and move them to my quarrentine tank!



Now onto the questions which I have listed and hope some of you can help me with!

1: For future reference, Apart from the big stomach, how do I tell when a female is pregnant?

2: How do I Know When the Female is going to OR at what point do I place the female into the quarrentine tank to give birth?

3: How many babys does a Platy have?

4: Does the mother eat them?

5: Anything else I should know????


Thanks and look forward to your replies!

Eddie

 

1. they have a 28 gestation period usually so from the last time she had fry count 28 days. Also there usually is a gravid spot (dark spot on the back of them)
2. Place her a week before so she's not to stressed out from the move before giving birth
3. They can range from 20+ you'l never know for sure
4. usually she eats them but not all the time

Well after answering your questions just scoop up all the fry you see in the big tank and put them in the smaller tank but how do you have it setup?

atm

 

Thanks! I think ALOT have been eaten then because I can only see 4!

my main tank is 32 Gallons with plenty of live plants and a huge piece of bog wood running a standard juwel internal filter and a fluval 205 external filter, a juwel 110w Heater and a hydor ario 2 air pump with a gravel floor.

the fish I have filled it with are:

3x Albino sucking loach
4x Lemon tetra
4x Silver/Bala shark
2x Glass Catfish
2x Pleco
6x Platy
1x Male siamese fighting fish
2x Red Tropical Crab
2x Cleaner Shrimp

they are all babies now but will have to separate them as they get bigger!



the quarrentine tank is 10 gallons running an interpet PF minI sponge filter and an interpet 50w Heater and a gravel floor. no plant cover yet but its on my list!

 

Have scooped up the fry and placed them into a quarrentine tank but the mother is getting fatter! is that normal???

 

Have scooped up the fry and placed them into a quarrentine tank but the mother is getting fatter! is that normal???

Well, if you have males and the water conditions/temp in your tank are right you WILL have babies once a month. I have the same issue with my mollies....raising 30 babies now and looks like 3 lyre tails are ready to have babies. Lucky for me, I always have people interested in adopting them, because I am definetely well on my way to outgrow my tank. Congrats on the babies and have fun. What are you feeding them? I usually put some regular flake food in a zip lock baggie and mush it into a fine powder. Oh yes, my $10 brine shrimp hatchery has been a great lifesaver especially when the babies are real young. It's just the right sime food for them.

Izabela

 

hI izabela!

yeah I'm waiting on the next fry now! some of my females are looking...large... i'm feeding them flakes aswell, I bought some Tetramin Baby powder food because I found that no matter how much I crushed the flakes I ended up with some that were to big for them to eat and was just polluting the tank!!! unfortunatly my LFS dosnt sell brine shrimp, only bloodworm.

congrats on your new borns and good luck with the lyre tails!

Eddie

 

Your tank is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overcrowded. Bala Sharks get to 13 inches each, and I have never heard of a lemon tetra. Can you post a pict?