How long are platies (sp?) pregnant for? And do they lay eggs or is it live birth?

We have an aquarium in our office with a fish that we believe is pregnant. How can we tell? Should it be isolated? A couple of the other platys won't leave it alone.

How long are platies (sp?) pregnant for? And do they lay eggs or is it live birth?
A platy is normally pregnant for about 28 days after insemination. They give live birth to around 30 fry typically, though the number can be any where from 1-60 and still be considered normal. If you have at least one male platy with her, then odds are very, very high that she is in fact pregnant. The other fish bothering her is normal and typical and can only be avoided by separating her. If you do not separate her the majority of the fry will not survive as the other fish will eat them. You might consider though what you would do with 30 or so babies that would need separate housing for around 2 months and more care than you can give at the office. It may be best to allow nature to take it's course and be happy with the few that will grow up in the tank.





MM
Reply:If she is pregnant, she should be due about a month from the time she got pregnant. If she is real big then she would probably be due soon. They are livebearers so you would have live babies. They eat very finely ground fish flakes. You could seperate her until she has the babies and then you need to remove her, otherwise she will eat the babies.
Reply:Gestation for live-bearing tropical fish, such as Platys, are usally in the 4 week catergory. Some can be a bit longer.
Reply:IT IS ABOUT 3 WEEKS AND THE BABIES OF PLATIES ARE SMALLER THAN GUPPIES OR ANY OTHER LIVEBEARERS


SO IT WILL BE HARD TO RAISE THEM BUT I KNOW TO FEED THEM YOU MUST TAKE A PINCH OF FISH FLAKES AND PUT IT INTO A PLASTIC BAG AND TAKE A SPOON AN MUSH IT INTO POWDER
Reply:Leave it alone unless you want the hassle of taking care of the babies. I think its 6 weeks but i'm not sure. They are livebearers. If the other fish are hurting the other fish than you might want to isolate them.
Reply:i dont know how long they a pregnant for, I four platies and two got pregnant but they had their babies a week apart. It;s a live birth.





My fish used to have problems giving birth, something would go wrong, they couldn't give birth and then they would die. I solved this by sprinkling a little extra sea salt in the tank. I recommend you go to the petstore and do that.
Reply:platies are livebearers and the gestation period is 28 days


you can tell on her belly getting bigger and a black gravid spot at the anal fin


Here is an example of a guppy


http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Breeding.ht...





I would recommend getting real plants for your tank for the fry to hide, a breeding net or a 3way plastic breeder is very stressful for the females





The fry is actually much healthier and grows faster if left in the tank











Hope that helps





Good luck








EB