platies

[caboose]

does anybody knows how to tell the difference b/t male and female
platies and if they are female what they look like and act like when
they are pregnant?what!?



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[Beano]

I used to have platies - the females have triangular shaped anal fins,
whereas the males have sharp pointy anal fins. Also, the females have
rounder abdomens than the males who are quite flat on their underneath
side - and they get pretty obviously fat when they are pregnant.

Platies have live babies - mine had them once, but I observed in horror
as each time she popped out a baby she ate it...

[Rod Bacon]

The male has.. er... a dick!

Seriously... called a "gonopodium", it is the extension of the anal fin
which is clearly evident on male platties only.

This makes them one of the easiest fish to sex.

Females will develop a "gravid spot" (a black spot in her abdomen)
which will grow (as will she) as her pregnancy continues.

Google these terms to find out more.

[caboose]

ewwwww. thats terriable that they eat their own young!!! thank you maybe
know i can figure out if i have males or females.



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[Gill Passman]

caboose wrote:
> ewwwww. thats terriable that they eat their own young!!! thank you maybe
> know i can figure out if i have males or females.
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via CichlidFish.com
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If your tank is well planted like mine (plus has some hair algae) I
usually get some survivors - currently 3 swimming around from the last
batch...

Gill

[Beano]

I think most fish eat their own babies - people who breed them actually
get a chance of having 100's of them because they have special setups,
where the babies fall through holes in the floor of the tank to a
special compartment, where the mother can't get to.

When mine bred that one time I managed to get 3 that survived and
perched themselves on the plant. But day by day they disappeared. I
think the other fish in the tank ate them as well.

[caboose]

well i have a breeders net so i was going to try a keep a close eye on
the fish b/c i am 9 months pregnant, i dont go vary far from my bedroom
at the moment. but i had two goldfish in the tank as well and one was a
little bigger than the male plattie(i think he was male?) and he killed
him. so he b/came dinner for my oscar. but my female still could be
pregnant so i'll keep a sharp eye out for any noticable changes, and
about the black spot females develpe is it towards their tail, b/c i had
one with a black spot right before the tail? thanks



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[Beano]

Yay, nearly having babies yourself then! Hope it goes well, and
congratulations!

[Rod Bacon]

The black spot is near the abdomen. The spot is actually inside the
fish, not on the scales.

Check this site for more info...

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/platyreprofaqs.htm

[caboose]

thank you and i will check out the website also so i know what to look
for b/c i just bought four new platies yesterday.(walmart pets dept.
just love me)



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[lgb]

In article >,
-DONTEMAIL says...
> Thank you and i will check out the website also so i know what to look
> for b/c i just bought four new platies yesterday.(walmart pets dept.
> just love me)
>
I hope your Wmart is better than mine. I was in there yesterday and all
the clown loaches had ich. I told the manager who said he'd get after
the fish department guy. I went back today and the only change was that
half the loaches were dead.

No way would I buy anything live from Walmart. Cheap screw-in
fluorescent bulbs for aquariums, yes.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[m]

Some walmarts are a lot better than others for fish.
I know here in Calgary you'd have to be mildly insane to buy a fish
from walmart, but where my family is from in southern ontario the local
walmart has healthier looking fish than a lot of LFS do here. Maybe
it's something about it being a small town, or maybe it's because it's
right by the great lakes and there are a lot of people there that know
a lot about fish... I don't know.

-m

[caboose]

well i don't know where you are from, but i live in alabama, and our fish dept manger is a friend of mine and she really does her job and a damn good job of it if i may say. but she took her summer vacation and when she came back almost all the tanks had ich. she was so upset. the tanks look great now. they have been diseae free for almost three months now. but i must say this walmart in talladega,al. every fish has ich and they never take care of there tanks. one of the fish ppl asked what was wrong to the manger while me and my husband were standing there looking at the fish and niether of them knew. i had to tell them that they fish had parisites, and that they weren't safe to sell, they needed to be treated. his replay was while we were walking away that they had a 90 day warrenty. i feel like calling aspca on them for curlty to animals!!!!!:eek:



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[caboose]

maybe living in a small town does have something to do with it, espcially one thats is one a major body of water. we have a nice size river and lake here in these parts. plus i love the fact that in small town when you know alot about something(like fish) and every one elses is dieing it is nice to know that you can help and that you know you are doing a good job on your own tank set up.:)



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[Rod Bacon]

My female plattie only lasted 3 days. This weekend, when cleaning the
tank, I discovered a baby plattie, now about 5mm long swimming happily
amongst my java moss.

I chose the female because she was obviously gravid, but I had no idea
she was _that_ close to giving birth. She was harassed to death (I
suspect) by my (former) CAE. She obviously had time to squeeze a few
fry out before she kicked the bucket.

A nice surprise. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Gourami won't find him before
he doubles in size.

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.


"Rod Bacon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> My female plattie only lasted 3 days. This weekend, when cleaning the
> tank, I discovered a baby plattie, now about 5mm long swimming happily
> amongst my java moss.
>
> I chose the female because she was obviously gravid, but I had no idea
> she was _that_ close to giving birth. She was harassed to death (I
> suspect) by my (former) CAE. She obviously had time to squeeze a few
> fry out before she kicked the bucket.
>
> A nice surprise. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Gourami won't find him before
> he doubles in size.
>


A water change (like putting a new livebearer in a different tank or put one
in from a store) can cause livebearers to give birth abruptly. Don't worry
about the word (abruptly) as your baby sounds just fine (abruptly as in
immediately) and the method is often used by professional breeders if I have
read right. Fry spend a lot of extra time in the womb often. Enjoy your
baby, good luck, and later!

[Elaine T]

Daniel Morrow wrote:
> Bottom posted.
>
>
> "Rod Bacon" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>
>>My female plattie only lasted 3 days. This weekend, when cleaning the
>>tank, I discovered a baby plattie, now about 5mm long swimming happily
>>amongst my java moss.
>>
>>I chose the female because she was obviously gravid, but I had no idea
>>she was _that_ close to giving birth. She was harassed to death (I
>>suspect) by my (former) CAE. She obviously had time to squeeze a few
>>fry out before she kicked the bucket.
>>
>>A nice surprise. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Gourami won't find him before
>>he doubles in size.
>
>
> A water change (like putting a new livebearer in a different tank or put one
> in from a store) can cause livebearers to give birth abruptly. Don't worry
> about the word (abruptly) as your baby sounds just fine (abruptly as in
> immediately) and the method is often used by professional breeders if I have
> read right. Fry spend a lot of extra time in the womb often. Enjoy your
> baby, good luck, and later!

The professional breeders I know do not stress livebearers into giving
birth. They would never risk damaging valuable breeding stock and "full
term" fry have a better survival rate.

As for the baby platy, put it in a breeding net until it's larger than
the mouths of other fish in your tank if you want to be absolutely sure
another fish does not eat it. If you can, offer frequent small feedings
rather than one or two larger ones to help it grow faster.

--
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