# Pregnant Platy Help



## twinkyroyal

hey... i need help with my pregnant platies... I have 3 pregnant but one looks very pregnant... I currently have her in a breeding box because I have read that when their belly is "box" shaped and they have the white dot that they can give birth within a couple hours to about 3 days... i have other platies in the tank and would like to atleast save one batch of babies... can anyone help? Please and Thank you!


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## coralbandit

provide cover;plants(live or fake) for the fry to hide in.Some should be floating and then they can hide till you can catch them.


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## skiffia 1

The white dot can be a indication that the fish will give birth soon keep a eye on the one in the breeding box if she gets to stressed release her back to the main tank. Keep tank well planted for fry to hide, keep the adults wall feed check for any fry 2 or 3 times a day ,


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## skiffia 1

twinkyroyal said:


> hey... i need help with my pregnant platies... I have 3 pregnant but one looks very pregnant... I currently have her in a breeding box because I have read that when their belly is "box" shaped and they have the white dot that they can give birth within a couple hours to about 3 days... i have other platies in the tank and would like to atleast save one batch of babies... can anyone help? Please and Thank you!


The white dot can be a indication that the fish will give birth soon keep a eye on the one in the breeding box if she gets to stressed release her back to the main tank. 
Keep tank well planted for fry to hide, keep the adults wall feed check for any fry 2 or 3 times a day


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## Sayonarax

Hello,

There really is no reason to move your fish. You will only increase the stress of the fish if you start chasing it around with a large scoop. If you want to separate the fry your best bet is to wait till she has the fry, then retrieve them. Capture the fry with out removing them out of water for best results. 

On another note, some platy females like the so called "mickey mouse platy" will balloon up for two/three weeks where the other types of platys don't. They can also stay plump after birth.


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## twinkyroyal

Here is a video of the platy in question---- My Pregnant Platy - YouTube


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## Sayonarax

Your fish is not pregnant and don't put your fish in them silly breeder boxes.


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## twinkyroyal

Update --- 

When I look really close at the one platy in the video above, I see what i believe is the babies eyes. Her gravid spot doesn't look very dark. The white spot is larger. I have had her in the breeding box and no babies yet. I believe all these signs mean that she will birth very soon. What do you guys think?


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## skiffia 1

If you can see the eyes close up then she is going to give birth it is difficult to know when she will drop, the breeding box may not be helping it is way to small it can get the fish very stressed out and the fish can even abort the fry . it is best not to live any fish in a breeding box for more than 24-48 hours at the very most, a breeding box can be useful for holding the fry for the first week or two, for less stress on the fish it is best to put her by herself to have babies in a small well planted tank or if it’s not possible it would be best to put her back in main tank. keep the fish well fed and check daily for any fry ,


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## twinkyroyal

i have had her in the box for 2 days. ive been letting her out for most of the day then will put her back in. i just put her in it over night or when i took the pics and videos. i dont have enough plant cover right now so i would like to keep her contained so i can save at least some of the babies. i have live plants that i am trying to grow. there are two other pregnant females and they will eat the babies too. she should have them soon as its been a little over a month since her last batch. also to get her in the box, i lure her to it. i dont catch her with the net...


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## coralbandit

Keeing your fish well fed will help tremendously wth them eating babies.I never use breeder traps of any kind and regulary pull 10-50 fry from my 40 breeder that has 20 4+ inch swordtails.Floating plants will really help also even if they're fake.


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## twinkyroyal

ok... i decided to take this platy out and put one of the other pregnant ones in there... guess wat... BABIES!!!! i am so happy!!! the mom of these is either a platy or sword tail... we cant tell... but YAY!!!


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## skiffia 1

that's good news how many :animated_fish_swimm


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## twinkyroyal

there were 10 but 1 didnt make it... wish i knew wat kind they are. the mom looks like a sword tail but may also b another kind... i will post a pic of her...


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## skiffia 1

http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp306/f48mfp/bth_IMG_0484-1.jpg?t=1365478341
one of my platy's Xiphophorus andersi she is not gravid yet males only sexed out about 2 weeks ago I hope to get fry from them very soon ,
the last time I kept this species was in 1993 lol.


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## twinkyroyal

<----- a pic of my mystery momma fish (yellow one)


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## skiffia 1

the tail shape is Known as a Lyre Tail Molly


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## twinkyroyal

is it possible that its a platy? it is smaller than a molly and i got it with a batch of platies...


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## skiffia 1

it's a lyretail mollie


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## twinkyroyal

crap... thats the only other tank i have... my other tank has pink convics which eat intruders... will the mollies and platies b ok together?


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## skiffia 1

yes your mollies and platies will be ok together


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## twinkyroyal

i hope so... especially for the babies... the other day i found two platy babies and just found two more... one of them fount its way into the breeding box... no clue how, the lid was on...


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## Molly Malone

I wasn't sure whether or not my Balloon Molly was pregnant or not altho she was really big. Next morning there were lots of tiny fry swimming & hiding in the gravel/plants etc., I panicked & caught a couple of the babies & popped them into a breeder net but by the end of the day after she'd dropped a couple more I noticed the other fish didn't really bother with them. The babies managed to hide or were soooo fast they could escape any threat so I've released the others and this morning they're swimming around with the other fish like they just don't care. 

Having said all that - I do only have Neon Tetras, Harlequin Rasporas & of course the Balloon Mollies in that tank. I don't know how they'd fare with Angels or bigger fish.


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