Hoody Posted May 27, 2008 Report Share Posted May 27, 2008 Think I may need some help? My pair of Platty's are acting weird with the male chasing the female around like crazy, weird colour poo hanging out of the female and THINK I may have seen the male eating fry when I got home from work?? Not 100% sure about that though? Is this typical behaviour for spawning Platty's?? She has been rather large lately? If so what should I do to try and save the fry if there is any? I can put the male in another tank if this would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 27, 2008 Report Share Posted May 27, 2008 If you are pretty sure she may just be carrying young, then shift the male out and let her have time out, nothing worse than having her stressed if she is due to drop... Have you got java moss or plants in the tank for new borns to tuck themselves in once born? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted May 27, 2008 Report Share Posted May 27, 2008 The chasing of the female is par for the course as far as platies goes, he will hound her day and night, as african said to the point of killing her with stress. It is a good idea to keep a ratio of 3F:1M to give the girls a rest from time to time. If she is looking big and hanging out down in the plants, there is a good chance she is ready to drop very soon. Your easiest shot at saving some fry is to add lots of java moss or something similar for the fry to hide in, you should get some survivors unless its a full on community tank. If you are serious about saving most of the fry, you will need to either isolate her in a breeding trap or move her to a separate tank once she gets big. Keep an eye on her and when she drops remove the fry about 12 hrs after you see the first fry (it can take that long for her to pop them out) and keep them separate in a floating icecream container for a day or so until mum recovers then swap mum and fry over. if you miss a birth dont panic she will drop again in approx 4 weeks. One mating will last for up to 3 spawns so If you really want to you can keep her on her own untill you catch a birth or 2 the big thing is to avoid stressing her just before she drops, otherwise she will abort and you get nothing, don't take her out of the water if moving her, herd her into a container or the birthing trap and take her out of the tank water and all. Phew Good luck man, join the WAS and I'll be able to help you out in person :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoody Posted May 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2008 Thank's heap's for the excellant explanation's!! Have been thinking about the WAS.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviathan Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Heya, I have three platys in my communitly tank (130L which has 3xPlaties, 1 Honey Dwarf Gourami, 1 Siamese Alge Eater and 10 Neons) I figured 2 of the three platies are a pair as they are always together, ocassionally the male chases the female, and neither of them ever really hang around with the third platy in the tank. Anyway, they have been camping out in a driftwood cave for a while, i know they have been up to stuff... ..then today, when feeding my fish i notice fry in the tank. Little orange guys about 4-5mm in length! Ive counted over 10 at once, i have no idea how many more could be hiding too... So, i always knew Platies were livebearers but i thought my other fish would eat any fry, obviously that didnt happen. Now im a bit worried i am going to be overrun with fish! I notice the female is huge again!! What options do i have? Will leaving the fry in there result in them surviving now they have reached this size? Any tips or advice will be muchly appriciated! Cheers Ami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 If there are plenty of hiding places and plants then a good number will survive from each hatching. Platies will reproduce every 4 - 6 weeks and you will end up with too many. Solutions: only keep males separate the sexes sell or give away the fry get another tank get a bigger tank get another bigger tank If you leave the female in there continually producing she will die anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviathan Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Thanks for the reply Caryl! I think i will go down to the LFS's and see if any want them for free when they are big enough and also enquire about trading my female for a male... I can imadgine they get offered them all the time.. Another option i guess is giving them away via this site and trademe. The fry are so cute! Couldnt bare to gather them up to feed to a bigger fish or anything really...i just dont have it in me! It will be great seeing them grow! I might pick up and start a fry tank soon.. Ami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simian Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Great stuff leviathan I try and improve the colouration of my school of platties by just keeping one strain (in my case Sunset). I suggest you grow them out and just keep the good ones, I'm starting up a seperate tank for my breeding platies and keeping just the females in my display tank (I like the shape of the females over the males and mine seem to have as good colour) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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