Pregnant platy no longer pregnant...

[MsBugg]

What happened?

My little white mickey mouse platy was all nice and plump, the babies eyes clearly visible in her stomach, probably had another week to go before the due date. So I turned the light off to my tank and went to bed, and in the morning, no more babies eyes, no more plumpness, and no platy fry anywhere! I'm wondering if she had them stillborn and they got eaten, or they were alive and well then got eaten, or (I heard this happens) she absorbed them? Sugar was always very small, was it because she wasn't sexually mature enough to go through with the pregnancy? Her tiny little body couldn't handle all the babies and got stressed? I am honestly really confused...

I'm all crapped out now... I was so excited for my little babies... But I also discovered that my black platy fish, Sheniqua, is very pregnant. Hopefully her pregnancy will go well. But this time I'm not getting my hopes up.

[Revolution1221]

she probably didnt absorb them as this takes some time and they will slowly get smaller. the babies could be in the tank somewhere safe and sound where u cant see them and it can be very hard to see them. she could be a young platy and only had a couple and they very well could have been still born if she is young. look very carfefully through the rocks u may spot one or two. also they all could have been ate sometimes they will eat the babies soon as they come out 1 by 1. dont feel to bad if u dont find any babies she can have more as soon as 3-4 weeks sometimes before the first batch is even born they will have more already growing inside of them. i once had a molly give birth to live fully developed babies, babies still with yolk salks, underdeveloped babies still not fully formed but had eyes showing, and then completely undeveloped orange eggs.

[MsBugg]

I looked all over and couldn't find one single baby. Even moved all the breeding grass around(since that's where they usually hide) and found nothing. And wow! A fully grown molly? That's crazy! Hopefully Sugar's got a little bit more in her, if not, there's always next time I guess. Thanks!!!

[TheOldSalt]

There will always be a next time

[snyderguy]

It's very possible that they got eaten :[

[MsBugg]

Ugh, stupid obese fish eatin' all of my babies!!! >_< Everyone says it's so easy for fish babies, I am soooo not seein it. :P

[snyderguy]

haha, i got lucky enough to catch my platy fry. i was cleaning out the tank and thought i saw a tiny little thing get eaten by one of my angels. then before i knew it, i saw the mother giving birth and i quickly separated her

[MsBugg]

Ah, nice! This time with my other pregnant platy, I'm gonna get a breeder net or something, to separate the babies from all of the other fish once they're born. So this time maybe they'll have a fighting chance.

[snyderguy]

Still be sure you watch her though, I had a breeder net that I put all my angel fry in to and the mom ate them right through the net

[MsBugg]

Oh wow, hopefully my platy wont do that! I might get one of the tanks that the fry fall through little holes which the mother can't fit through, so that the fry are in their own little chamber, safe.

[Revolution1221]

Originally Posted by MsBugg Oh wow, hopefully my platy wont do that! I might get one of the tanks that the fry fall through little holes which the mother can't fit through, so that the fry are in their own little chamber, safe.

not always safe they can swim back up through it an bye bye lol. i had one of my mollies once in my breeding box and one of the babies came back up through and she grabbed it and i poked her on the nose and she spit it out lol so the rest of the time while giving birth i sat there and waited for her to try it again and when she id i would scare her away. it worked pretty well.

[MsBugg]

Haha, well it's better than just having the fry out in the open to all of the other fish. :P Hopefully I'll be there to monitor the birthing process this time and make sure none of the babies get eaten. :P I'm sick and tired of my fish being so fat! >_<

[snyderguy]

don't those plastic ones have slits big enough for the fry to slip through?

[Fairy]

Yea my auntie lost a couple of babies cos of the "breather holes" and the babies swam straight out of them, she just put some old tights (fully cleaned) around the breeding tank after removing he mother and they were all really happy till they were at a big enough size

[MsBugg]

Yeah the breathing holes or whatever was concerning me too. But Fairy that's a very good idea, I'll just steal some of my moms old tights and wrap it around it so they don't fall out.