Now, I'm not absolutely positive that my fish is pregnant, the lady that helped us at pet smart said she was a female and though she was pregnant, her stomach seems like its bloated and looks to be much bigger then the rest of her body. We transfered her into a smaller 1 gallon tank that we have, will that help, or after she has the babies, should we take her back out of the smaller tank and put her back in with the rest of our fish? And how big or long should we let the smaller baby fish stay in th tank by themselves before moving them?
2007-02-20 10:51:33 · 8 answers · asked by invisiblekisses2000 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
If she was in with males, then she's almost certainly pregnant. To help the fry (baby fish) survive being eaten, there are a few different methods that you can use:
Heavily plant your tank--This won't keep every single fry from being eaten, but will allow the strongest ones to hide and have a successful chance to grow to adulthood. This is what we do with our Endler's and what I would recommend as the least stressful to the adults and fry.
Remove the adults or fry from the primary tank and put them in another tank--This is a pretty good option if you can't heavily plant your tank. However, catching any fish and moving it to a new location is stressful and can be bad for the fish.
Using a Breeding Net--This is a fairly popular option, but the female can become stressed if she's put in there too soon before she gives birth. Since you don't know how far along she is, it will probably be rather difficult for you know when to put her in there.
Since you already have her in the 1 gallon tank, I would leave her there and remove her as soon as the fry are born. If you leave her in there with them, she will eat them, and then, since the tank is too small for her, probably won't do well. You should do frequent water changes on the fry tank and feed them crushed flake food or crushed whatever you normally feed the adults. Since it's not an established tank, you should feed them several times a day.
The baby fish should stay in the smaller aquarium until they are big enough to not be eaten by the adults (ie can no longer fit in their mouths). If you're unsure as to what size this means, wait about a month and then transfer one into the larger tank. If it gets eaten, wait a little longer. Also, the 1 gallon might get too small for the fry before too long so make sure you have a good filter and do frequent water changes!
2007-02-20 11:01:32 · answer #1 · answered by Susan 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The platy indeedly sounds like she is. A fish can be prenant anywhere between 24-60 days, depending on how large it is(bigger = Longer time period)
When she's in labor, she'll act extremely funny and look like she's in a hang-over.
She will pooh out live young, since she is a live-baring fish.
As soon as all the babies come out, take that mommy out cause she'll eat her own young.
Raise the babies to around 6-7 mounths, or when they are a little more than half size of the other fish. Then you can add them in.
Don't panic if some babies die, it's normal.
Breeding nets arn't nessesary. You can keep them in the gallon tank. I don't recomend breeding boxes, since this can stress the fish out, and also the babies can escape in certian types.
I keep my babies in seperate tanks, and they do just fine. Make sure you buy a plant or two for them to hide in(baby fish love to hide!)
Good luck!
2007-02-20 19:01:11 · answer #2 · answered by theARTSlover003 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well first platy's have bloated tummy and thats normal... 2nd if they are pregnant one of the reasons are they have been completely fine with the environment in your tank so dont take them out of the tank...just let them be and they will do their own way on protecting the eggs and so are the baby fishes they can be a little bit of more than 50 when they have babies so watch out if you really want this... Platy's get pregnan very easy...
2007-02-20 19:37:22 · answer #3 · answered by Cess B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you should take her out because she will eat the eggs. They also sell these tanks that are specifically for pregnant fish...it has like a mesh net at the bottom of the tank and the eggs fall through the mesh so that the mom cannot get to them to eat them.
2007-02-20 18:59:55 · answer #4 · answered by kristina807 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes after she has the babies you should definitely take her out. When I was younger my fish had babies and the mother ended up eating them all and it was quite traumatizing. Other than that you really don't have to do much about it the fish will grow on their own.
2007-02-20 18:54:42 · answer #5 · answered by GCTA 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
get a labor box that she can drop the Young in
2007-02-20 18:56:24 · answer #6 · answered by chris b 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
when the time is right, everything will happen naturaly LOL
2007-02-20 18:59:05 · answer #7 · answered by skigrrrrl 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
that's weird... i would probably go to the doctor and get some help. you know, help for you.... on your brain... cause i dont know anyone who asks these kinds of questions.
2007-02-20 18:55:26 · answer #8 · answered by THE BIG S 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋