I got a Red Wag Platy a few weeks ago. I believe that she's pregnant. This is my first time breeding although I didn't really plan on it.
I'd appreciate any advice anyone could give me.
If you really want the fry the best thing to do is put her in a breeder trap which you can get at wall-mart or any LFS it just floats in your tank its no more than 5 bucks. Another thing that works is put some java moss or hornworts in the tank and the fry will hind in that if they don't get eaten first.
I did try to put her in a breeder trap but she didn't seem to like it. I didn't want to stress her. I think I'm going to wait a little while to put her in the breeder trap though. Does it look like she's pregnant? How long are they usually pregnant? Sorry for all the questions.
She looks preggers to me. I'm new to platys but the dark spot near her anal fin looks like a "gravid spot". Those are actually the eyes of the babies. I got a few platys about a month ago and had no idea that they were so prolific, (I should have never brought my husband to the fish store). We bought three and by the time we got home we had four. The baby was really small but managed to eat small bits of flake food and I didn't do anything special to keep it alive. She managed to give birth to at least four more that didn't get eaten by my angelfish and is ready for another batch in a few weeks. They store sperm in their bodies so even if there is no male they will be pregnant for months.
I did put three in a ten gallon together with a harlequin rasbora baby I rescued from my 55g and they are doing well. Everything is spawning! These fish will reproduce out of control if you let them. Do you have another tank? The ones that lived are much stronger than my original three. In fact the mama is the only original fish I have and two of her offspring have survived in the original tank and the other three are in a fry tank. I believe in natural selection and that the strong will survive. I don't think you have to do anything special. Just let nature take it's course.
Thanks for the advice Lisa. I don't have another tank to put the babies in when they are born. I'm probably going to keep them in the breeder trap til their big enough.
Personally, I don't think breeder traps are a great place to put a pregnant platy. They need room to swim, and the traps are just too small. I think they do better to be able to swim around when they are dropping fry too. If you really want to keep the fry, you can provide lots of plant cover for them to hide in, or cycle a new tank just for them. I've had some success with catching fry as they are born and separating them from the main tank. If I don't separate them, then they get eaten very quickly...even by the mother (I don't have much plant cover in my tank for them to hide in.)
I recently bought two platys, and didn't want a tankful of babies so I got two females. Unfortunately, I forgot that they can store sperm for months, so I have a tankful of babies anyway. This tank is heavily planted, so the fry avoid being eaten and find plenty to eat among the plants. When they are only a tad larger they come right out and eat flake food. No one in the tank really seems interested in them (except to maybe steal food away from them). So, it is probably not feasible for you at this point, but add some plants if you can.
