Pregnant Platy and Limited Space

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


TropicalTommy
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:30 am

Pregnant Platy and Limited Space

by TropicalTommy

I have a 20 gal tank with 4 platys and 5 gold clouds. My tank is only about 4 weeks old, and I'm pretty darn sure I have a pregnant platy. I hope to get a 75 gal or so tank in a couple months after I've figured the hobby out, but until then, I have a dilemma. Do I get a breeder net for the future fry and keep them and possibly overcrowd the tank, or do I not get a breeder net and let most if not all of them get eaten?


tekneb
 
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:45 am

by tekneb

This is an all to common problem. Live-bearers like platys get pregnant constantly, in fact a lot of the time they are already pregnant at the lfs when you purchase them. If I were in your situation I would just start asking around if anybody would want a few free baby platy's. Ask friends, fellow hobbyists, and even your lfs if they would want them. Give away all you can, so even if a few don't get taken and get eaten at least you did all you could.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

I started out with red wag platys and red platys, and within 6 months, I had so many platies I had to find a way out of it...wha-la, here comes the african dwarf frog.

Platies will bear free swimming fry every month. With 4 platies, you will wind up with about 75 platies in 6 months - would be more, but the fish will eat their own fry unless the fry seek coverage right away after birth in live plants, in caves, what have you.

To prevent over-population, I always say, let mother nature take care of mother nature - buy about 2 african dwarf frogs, and all your troubles with livebearer fry will be gone in an instant. The frogs will wait at night for the mothers to give birth, and will snap them up in a flash.

I used to feed my dwarf african frogs frozen bloodworms, tubiflex, shrimp, etc - but in the last 4 months, I have found, because I have about 15 platies in the tank, the frogs (2of them) can live off alone on the platy fry.

In regards to the breeder - a breeder, dependent on what type you get has holes small enough for the fry to fall down into so the females adults do not eat them. But this is really harder than it looks. By the time the fry find the holes to wiggle through, the mother in such a small container will probably have swallowed them up.

So these are really your two options: permit the mothers to give birth without african dwarf frogs, and even though the adults will eat some fry some fry will slowly make it to maturity; on the other hand, if you do not want more than the 4 platies you have, buy 2 african dwarf frogs, and all your troubles will be over plus you get 2 african dwarf frogs added to your tank - these little guys are really cool (just make sure they access to the water surface, to gulp in oxygen).

let us know how you decide


mzhantsche
 
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:27 am

by mzhantsche

Yea i had two African dwarf frogs in a tank with 11 guppy's. All the guppy's were always pregnant but I never saw a baby because of those frogs ate them every second they came out. I just moved the frogs to my big tank. No easy meals for them anymore but I'm seeing an influx of guppy's. It will be interesting to see how many with populate in a 20 gal long tank.
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yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

african dwarf frog is the best natural alternative...but you do what you think is best


TropicalTommy
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:30 am

by TropicalTommy

Do female platies stomachs get big really fast over the last week of gestation and then they give birth a shortwhile afterwards or does it get bigger steadily over the 30 or so days? I'm wondering because the female I suspected of being pregnant doesn't have a huge stomach anymore, but I don't see any fry (maybe they all got eaten?).


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

actually, their bellies right in front of the pelvic fin (on the underbelly) will get a little bigger than usual...also you may be able to see very tiny black dots in this area (fry in the sac or gonad); platies usually lay their fry at night, staying close to the gravel, then releasing them

if you do not see the fry within 7 days of the time you believe she gave birth, then yes, they were all gulped down (a female platy will swallow about 75% of their fry - and other fish will eat the fry too, only if there is immediate live plant coverage or caves, what have you where the very fast fry/livebearer can seek cover " the strong will survive", then the fry will perish or be eaten)...so it is really a numbers game, for every 10, possibly 2 or 3 will survive if there is immediate shelter, no shelter, they will perish

sometimes I look into the filters, and believe it or not, you will find some fry/livebearers alive and well swimming about...but once released back into the main tank, unless the fry is over 1/2" long, the fry will be eaten

Pregnant Platy and Limited Space

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