Is my platy pregnant?
- Thread starter MeganA
- Start date
Well after I let her out of the box the first time I wondered the same because her back fin rarely fans out like it used to, the bigger she gets the less I see it and a couple times I wondered whether I actually had a female or if I had 2 males and then it would fan out and reassure me lol. She has been in the box about an hour now and I am beginning to get concerned about her. She just left off about a 3 inch poo and she seems to be distressed to me. She is panting rapidly and she is just sitting the top corner of the box with her tale elevated and her side fins seem to be shaking very fast. Do you think this normal?
Thats definitely a female. Look at her anal fin (where her waste come out) you might see kinda like a black blob, some people call it black spots. Now since your fish is orange im not sure you can still see it. Worth a shot though. The black spots are the frys eyes. I put females in the breeder box and dont have any problems, they seem to get more stressed out with all the males chasing them around nibbling at their anal fins (one way i know their about to give birth), than them being in the box.
She seems like she is doing OK now in the box, She doesn't like me coming close to the tank though she kinda starts swimming erratically when I do but when she doesn't know I am watching she looks peaceful. How long can she stay in the box? Last time she was in there a week and when I let her out the other fish all went crazy and chased her to no end for a day or so and then they calmed down. Anyone have any opinions on whether she is actually pregnant? And if you think she is, do you think she is close enough to be put in the box? I hate to put her in there if she doesn't need to be in there...
In my opinion, she does look pregnant, but she doesn't look quite ready to drop fry, I could be wrong so don't hold me to it. I'd say from the looks of it soon, a couple days maybe before she gives birth. I'd let her out at the moment. I'm going to agree with Hannah though, let her out and watch her closely if, and if you see her start dropping fry you could move her then, or when she starts looking really boxy and big you may be able to see little black spots (eyes) on her back side, or leave her in the tank and try to catch the fry after she drops them... I heard from somebody I asked to use a turkey baster to suck them up? although it would have to be a new one, and I havent tried that yet although the idea is intriguing.. I've caught a couple fry with a net before when they got sucked in to the water change bucket from the gravel vacuum, wasn't that hard you just have to keep an eye on them. all up to you in the end.
I use a turkey baster for my fry. When my mollies drop fry in my tank i first catch them with my net then use the turkey baster to suck them out of the net to put them breeder boxes/nets, that way I dont have to take them up out of the water sence thier so small.
MeganA- Keep us updated. Hope all goes well.
MeganA- Keep us updated. Hope all goes well.
Well..no fry yet...not sure whats going on anymore. Somedays i think dang she is huge and the white dot betwen thetwo bottom fins is very white and hollow then the next day she looks smaller and i dont see the white area at all yesterday i started seeing the black dots but it is very hard to see...so i am not for sure about that either..i am just going to let her have them in the tank and hopefully i can catch the babies...