# Pregnant Platy Problems



## ChessieSFR (Dec 30, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I have something weird going on with my little platy Zippy. She was born in the tank about a year ago, but I had trouble with the tank and nearly all the fish died except my corycat and the one little baby, and one male baby.

I gave the male away just after I saw him starting to harass the other female fish.

Since that time, Zippy has looked pregnant with a dark gravid spot and everything, but it has been close to nine months, and she hasn't ever had any babies. Now she'd not looking very healthy. She's lost one or two scales and hides a lot.

Is it possible for a platy to be pregnant this long? I'm not sure what to do about her.


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## Sherry (Nov 22, 2011)

She can't be pregnant that long. Platys give birth every 4 or 5 weeks. Mine are naturally fat. ( Yes I said naturally LOL ) iThey can hold sperm for months, but they still have fry every month for up to 6 or 7 months without a male present. If she is losing scales, there is something wrong with her. Do you water test? check the levels, Do your normal PWC. 
I personally would put her in a hospital tank. I keep a small 10g tank up and running just in case I have a sick one in my big tank. I don't medicate, I just add a little aquarium salt and raise the temp to 80. Sorry, I let nature take it's course.


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## ChessieSFR (Dec 30, 2011)

Yeah, it's weird. She's acting fine, and all the other fish are healthy and the water is perfect.

Yesterday she passed what looked like a yellow egg, or a little sack thing. I saw her pass one other one too. She swam around the tank, then noticed it and ate it. I'm wondering if she did get pregnant and the babies didn't develop, and now she's slowly passing old "sacks" now.

I think the missing scales were because the biggest platy was picking on her. She may have been after these yellow things as well. It's really weird.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

It sounds like she was eating poop - and like someone was beating her up. What are the other fish in there?
If the male was given away before he was fertile, she may just be fat. Platies are big eaters, with no shut off. I feed adult fish like that once a day with one day a week off. They live a lot longer lean, and are more active and healthier.


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## ChessieSFR (Dec 30, 2011)

It wasn't poop, that is for sure, and the only other fish are three other female platys, two that are bigger than her, and one smaller. It was really odd. Now, my girls are pretty plump, I'll give them that. I need to cut back with them a little. I only feed them once a day, but I'll add a fasting day. They're going to hate that.

With the platy, she's a silver mickey mouse, so her body is really clear. And she had the weird gravid spot that is slowly fading month to month. I don't know. I've never seen anything like it.

Granted, I'm not a platy expert, but I've been through my fair share of normal "births" and whatever is going on with her is not normal.


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