Pregnant bumblebee platy

[fishy_foo]

Hi,

I got a female bumblebee platy that looks quite large around the tummy. She was quite voracious and even was picking on the corycats that sit quietly on a fake rock cave. So I got a breeder net and put her in it yesterday. I've been feeding her freeze dried bloodworms, freeze dried brine shrimp and tropical fish flakes (more than the previous two).



1. Is it OK to keep her in the breeder until she gives birth...I don't know how long I'll have to keep her.

2. She eats everything I give her - is there a limit to how much to feed her?



Thanks,

Ami

 

[LuciFishies]

1. It depends on how pregnant she is. You said she was quite large around the tummy, but is is dark colored? One surefire way of knowing how close she is, get her in front of a bright light, and look through her gravid area (the dark-colored spot). If you can see little black dots, it's okay to put her in and keep her in until little fish pop up in the net. How many fish she'll give birth to is a different story...
2. It's good that you're feeding her a variety of foods, but yes, there is a limit. Most fish food containers have a scale, like one inch per fish, one flake. This can get a little tricky if you're dealing with bloodworms and brine shrimp. I'd say feed her twice a day (once she's in the net, I mean), and about a quarter of a teaspoon of food each time. What this food is a mix of is up to you.

Here's a pic of a pregnant platy, see if yours looks anything like this:

This is also how the black dots should look. They're the babies' eyes.
Don't worry if she's not, some platy's are just plain fat.

 

[fishy_foo]

Wow, that pic of the pregnant platy is EXTREMELY helpful. I've actually let the bublebee loose about 5 days after putting her in. She still hasn't delivered. I've got a heavily planted (plastic) aquarium and also some floating frilly leaved plastic plants. I'll just catch the fry and separate 'em

 

[Kiara1125]

No, keep them in the tank. They should have enough cover and you woulld be suprised at how fast they are. If you put the mom in the breeder net too soon, then she will get stressed out and abort the babies. This is what I posted in a topic like this in Feb. of this year.

Here is a diagram showing what to expect when your platy is about to give birth.

A= look at the opening infront of the anal fin, this is open and white when she turned around you can see the opening quite clearly, if the opening has something dark in it she is just going for a poo, if its white and seems hollow then she is going into the first stages of labour. this is the best sign as some fish do differ b/c of the amount of fry inside.

B= this area will stay rounded until 24hours before she will give birth, then it will go box like shaped as ive shown in the picture. this happens with almost. every fish

C= this area will look like its an intense lighter colour than that of her natural colouring it will be swollen a fair bit if she has a lot of fry waiting to come out but this is not always the case as young fish with there first drop dont usual show this so well.

D= note that the shape of her back has started to arch, this is her getting into position so the birth canal will allow fry to drop.

she will be panting but not as heavy as guppies do and she will either be quite on the bottom or in weeds or she could and most of mine done go into a reverse swimming motion with her head to the floor and her tail in the air.