I have used Amazon affiliate links on this page. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no added cost to you. Thank you!
Table of Contents
Pregnant Platy Fish
So, you have a tank full of different livebearers like platy, guppy, and molly. And some of your female platyfish have big bellies and you have no idea when they are going to give birth. Then here you are, thinking yourself about “how long are platy fish pregnant for?”
Here is your answer:
Female platies are pregnant for 24 – 35 days! Baby platies can come out anywhere between 24 – 35 days after their mother platy has been pregnant.
Usually, they give birth in the dawn while it’s still dark, mostly it’s when we, the fish owners are at sleep. So it’s better to prepare for the big moment beforehand!. This is why you need to have an idea of how long the females have been pregnant, hence when they are close to giving birth.
Preparing for the delivery of baby platies
During the pregnancy, the platyfish’s body is undergoing many changes. The eggs being held in its womb are growing, and so is the mother. Hormone levels are elevated as well. The platyfish will often grow fatter as they get larger, and may start to look a little pregnant themselves when they actually are. Even though it is common to see them getting bigger, you should never force feed a pregnant platyfish.
So what are you going to do when finally female platy fish release their young ones? Obviously, you are the one who is going to take care of the tiny platy babies. Like many livebearers like guppy and molly, the platies are known to not possess any kind of parental care whatsoever. In fact, it’s more likely that the platy babies get eaten by their own parents, especially the females who gave birth in the first place.
Seperating the females ready to give birth
The best thing to do is to separate the pregnant platy fish who are ready for the delivery. It’s really hard to know when they mated in the first place, maybe they were already pregnant when you bought them.
Do you happen to like cichlids? Then read our cichlid article archive.
Using a seperate platy breeding tank
When the females’ bellies become very large, it’s a good hint that they will be giving birth very soon. Once the pregnant female platy reach this point separate them into a different tank with lots of plants with leaves like peacock moss. You can also put a lot of floating plants like Duckweed and Amazon Frogbit. The platy fry fish often take refuge under floating plant leaves and among their roots. This setup helps the newborn fish to hide from their mothers. It also helps to relax the females and relief their increased stress levels. Once you see the baby platy fish, you must catch the platy females and put them back in their main tank.
Using a platy breeding trap/ Floating breeding trap
Alternatively, you can use something called a breeding trap. It has two different rooms for the pregnant female fish and the platy babies. Once the females give birth the platy babies can swim down to their separate section of the breeding trap avoiding the adults eating them. A platy breeding trap is a lot more effective than using a separate tank for breeding, as they prevent the platy babies from getting eaten. Once the babies are out you must put the females back into the main tank and the babies into their grow-out tank. As breeding traps are a lot more stressful for both baby fish and adult fish to live for extended time periods.
Some of these platy breeding boxes are floating ones you can fix inside a grow-out tank. They don’t have separate rooms but the baby fish can escape the box and swim into their grow tank directly while their mothers can’t.
What affects the duration of the platy pregnancy
There’s a lot of diversity in the platyfish’s pregnancy. It depends on a number of factors, including age, size, water conditions, and food quality. Also if the fish is under a lot of stress they can give birth early. So yes, the livebearers can give birth prematurely, and sometimes just have only a few babies. The larger the female, the more platy babies it tends to give birth to.
Conclusion
The female Platy fish are pregnant for anywhere between 24 – 35 days. We have to take precautions like separating pregnant platy females in heavily planted breeding tanks or inside platy breeding traps to save the platy babies. Because the babies are at risk of getting eaten by other fish and from their parents starting from the moment of their birth. There are lots of factors to decide How Long Are Platy Fish Pregnant For and how many babies they give birth to. The healthier and the bigger pregnant females will give birth to a lot of babies at once, while the unhealthy, stressed, smaller females will only give birth to a few and sometimes to premature platy baby fish.
Want to join our Reddit discussion? Join here https://www.reddit.com/r/petfish101/