Dwarf Sunset Platies!

[atlantis_child]

Still getting ready, not even got tank set up, LOL, but excited to start breeding these little cuties. Brightly colored, easy to breed (livebearers… :roll: ) and on my stupidsest fish list, but love them.

Thinking of way to divide tank in two so I can keep adults on one side, babies on other…It’s a 22 gallon, so very big for those little guys. sure it’ll fill up though

I don’t have very much space in my other tank to keep the platies, small as they are.

Anyone know if it’s true that females can give birth continously, not just in broods? I know they can store sperm. Though that won’t be a problem in my platy tank.

Comments and/or advice?

– Atlantis

[atlantis_child]

Also, what would be the best food for baby dwarf platies? WOuld they need, like, inforsoria (sp?) to begin with, or is that too small? What about dried bloodworms crushed to a powder? : (it floats…)

– Atlantis

[ste12000]

Hi Atlantis i can help with a few of your questions. Firstly for a tank divider, do you know anything about cross stitching?? (yeah i can see all the lads thinking “what the F*@k” ste’s lost the plot) :roll:
I was looking for a spawning grid for the bottom of my tanks and stumbled upon a plastic canvas mesh used in Cross stitching. It might be useful as a divider if you want to look into it.
Your platys should produce a brood every month but all on the same day never continuously. They can store sperm and i have been experimenting with endlers guppies, mine from one mating have produced 6 broods so far, the two females were virgin and then in contact with a male for a day before he was removed, they show no sign of slowing down and produce their brood after 31 days, i use tons of java moss to give cover for the fry.
All livebearer fry are large from the moment they are born, because if you think about it they were born inside the female and have been feeding for about 3 weeks. Mine take crushed flake, tiny pellets and love baby brine shrimp and microworm..Let me know how you get on or if i can be any more help..

[atlantis_child]

Yeah, I heard about the cross-stiching stuff. I’ll try to get some as I’m rather short on cash (and my parents are getting tired of me spending money on fish stuff…)

I plan on highly (fakely) vegetating the side with the very pregnant females so their fry can hide till the moms are done, although according to one source the adults usually leave the fry alone. Platies are rather vegetarian, but I’m not going to take the chance.

The other side, also pretty and vegetated will house my three males and the non-very pregnant females. Might divide it further in three sections if I get generations that are very different in size.

It’s a relief to hear that giving birth continously was an internet myth. That would be highly inconvenient.

Thanx ste.

– Atlantis

[atlantis_child]

Darn. Looks like I was sold a female and a male insted of two females. :roll: Hope I can get an exchange, otherwise it will be a ratio of 4 M : 2 F.

Not good.

I checked them over when the fish were bagged and commented that one looked male, but the sale’s lady was certain, and it was difficult to tell through the bag.

Weird thing is, the male isn’t going after the female. I’m pretty sure she’s pregnant already, just not sure how long it’s been. Her belly is quite big, she swims pretty slowly, and tends to stay near the bottom. Does not look at all like swim bladder disorder though, not like I’ve had before anyways.

If I posted a picture would someone be able to verify? That’d be really helpful. The last thing I want right now is a birth in quarintine before the “fish bench” and platy aquarium is set up. But if it happens, it happens.

Wish they kept the males and females seperate at the store.

Then again, all the tanks don’t have lids and the water level is high, so fish of different species end up in the wrong tank. :roll: Plus all diseases can be spread throughout all the tanks!

This is not my local, family owned petstore of course. It’s a big chain store. The former has been closed for renovations, and is partially open, but not the fish room.

Don’t think they have these fish though. Hopefully this is where I’ll be selling the babies after the reach maturity. It’s a good place for fish. The staff are really good ( except the common delusion with bettas :roll: )

But I’ve never had problems with the fish from there.

And the snail I got there lived quite a few monthes before dying ( after I inroduced another from a different source, they had lids, then both died…)

For some reason snails do not do well in my aquriums. Son’t know why. There’s plenty of yummy algae and stuff.
Well, actually platies like it too.

Wow, I’ve been rambleing… :wink:

– Atlantis

[ste12000]

Yes you have been rambling… Its ok though my wife is the same so im used to it by now…Post your pics and ill tell you what sex your platys are…

[atlantis_child]

Well actually, in all that ramble I was asking if someone could tell if the female I got was pregnant already…

I can tell a male from female if I get a good look (which is not looking inside a small bag with writing all over at panicing little fishies.) But when more at ease, well geez, they’re livebearers. They can’t exactly hide their gender.

I was a bit anxious to get out of there after my “dispute” with another sale’s dude.

No, that Mr. is going back to the store without getting his picture taken.

– Atlantis

[ste12000]

Yes i read about your ‘dispute’ in your other thread, why not tell his boss that he is an absolute idiot and that you are looking for a new job :wink:
I didnt realise you wanted to know if she was pregnant, take it as granted that if she has been in a tank with males and water and if their are no problems with the female(headache) then she will be pregnant.
The problem with livebearers soon becomes one of tank management rather than trying to breed them.
Check the gravid spot near to her anal vent and if it is large and black and the female is nicely rounded before eating then she is pregnant.
How large are your fish??
You are in a good position now to experiment! I would wait for babies, seperate the males as soon as spotted, and let the females remain virgin, then you are in control of when/who spawns. You can then count down the days and know exactly how long your fish carry their young before dropping. I am doing a similar experiment with Endlers and am learning plenty of things first hand, i am able to pick out large virgin females and the best male. After one day the male is removed and she drops exactly 31 days later, she has currently dropped 6 broods from one mating and is pregnant again now, broods are averaging around 20-25 with a split of sexes around 50-50. My endlers are kept on the cooler bottom shelf of the fishroom with a water temp of 72-75f.

Good luck…

[atlantis_child]

Picked up a 3 mesh grids for dividers. They were the biggest, but not larger enough. I’ll sew them together then figure out how to got the to stay in place. $1.19 instead of $20+ for a ‘proper’ one though.

Ok…well how pregnant then…?

I returned the obvious male for a female. The dude there (really nice, knowledgable, fish-loving, bred platies, guppies, swordtails, sometimes together. ) said she was really pregnant. Her anal (?) fin looks kind of like a males, but after much looking I’m pretty sure the fin was either torn or she had fin rot there. She is really round.

They’re in the 5 gallon by themselves, but hopefully will soon be moved to the 22 (Lucky fish. :wink: ), where I’ll keep them till they give birth. I’ll put the divider in then, so the the fry are protected. Once both girls are done I’ll put the males on that half too.

Anyway, I took and uploaded pictures. Bad quality, but hey, the tank’s on the basment floor and the camera sucks at taking pictures of small things…

Called the first one Amber, and the second, androgy one, Jesse. Yes, I name fish, but only if I can one from the other. It makes talking about them easier anyway.

Amber:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/AC101Atlantis/?action=view&current=Amber1.jpg

Jesse:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/AC101Atlantis/?action=view&current=Jesse1.jpg

Pic’s with both:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/AC101Atlantis/?action=view&current=AmberandJesse3.jpg
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/AC101Atlantis/?action=view&current=AmberandJesse2.jpg
http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc43/AC101Atlantis/?action=view&current=AmberandJesseinmirror.jpg

Need to build a stand again. Lucked out at IKEA. Found this coffee table with one thick piece, one thin.

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/00095036

Bought two to get the thick pieces, but it’s still cheaper than the TV bench. Fits much better in my room. Got another 6 legs… Planning not to cut them shorter as it won’t be under the window.

Again, DIY is awesome!

– Atlantis

[atlantis_child]

Found this in an article on an article on platys at http://www.aquaticcommunity.com

You can see which Platy are female and which Platy are male by looking at their gonopodium. A gonopodium is the anal fin, or more precisely the anterior portion of the anal fin, that has turned into a copulatory organ. Both male and female fish can display a large gonopodium, but a male Platy will display a gonopodium that is elongated and much larger than that of a female gonopodium.

Weirdness! I guess that explains Jesse. The one I got before was definately male though. Didn’t have the body shape.

The girls are in the 22 gallon, all by themselves, right now. My main tank with the males is having fin rot problems so is being medicated.

Damn fishys always choose the worse time to get a disease!

Oh well, I have a divider to make anyway.

But honestly, my betta and rainbowfish look really ragged now. I didn’t see anything amiss yesterday. Fin rot moves fast (in my experience) though. Hope they’ll be alright.

– Atlantis

[atlantis_child]

Looks like my divider needs some work…The fish are able to push their way through and go where they plase. Not good, considering they’re the adults.

The females are chasing the males though. That’s cute. :wink:

– Atlantis

[chr15_8]

good luck with them.

what other fish are in the tank?

[ste12000]

Have you figured out the divider yet?? why is it moving?
Finrot is usually caused by suspect water quality, i would recomend cleaning the filter sponges and changing 50% of your water, after that change 20% daily for a week and youll notice a difference. GOOD LUCK..

[atlantis_child]

what other fish are in the tank?

None, it’s just a platy tank, hopefully with fry on the one side and the adults on the other.

Have you figured out the divider yet?? why is it moving?

Werll it curves and won’t stay in place. It’s a little too big since I sewed on panels on each side to keep it firm. I’ll, cut them shorter and see if that helps, but damn, I wish there was aquatic duct tape!

Finrot is usually caused by suspect water quality, i would recomend cleaning the filter sponges and changing 50% of your water, after that change 20% daily for a week and youll notice a difference. GOOD LUCK..

Well, after the medication, which made the water icky I changed the water 50%, then a little more cuz it was still icky. Lost one zebra to unknown resons, killed another because I’m pretty sure it had neon tetra disease. all the symptoms.

It was my betta that got the fin rot, but I know it’s contagious, so I did the whole tank (I don’t have supplies or space for quarintine).
It happened over night practically.

All in the community tanks seems good now, but I’ll keep a close watch

– Atlantis

[atlantis_child]

Got a third female today. Came to look at how the ones that came in were (runts, mostly), plus it was near a craft store I’d gone to,. But she was a beauty, so I had to get her.

Gorgeous orange color, doesn’t look pregnant… but who can tell? :roll:

I’m going to put her in with my best male for a few days anyways, I think.

– Atlantis

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