Sitemaps

Lifespan of platy females after giving birth2007-11-24 23:38:02

My wife and I have a 10 gal aquarium and have platys. We have had 3 females and 1 male. Two of the females have given birth and then seem to waste away about 1-2 months after doing so. The 3rd female has given birth and is fine as is our male, the surviving fry are full grown and are fine and our other tank inhabitants (corys, tetras and a snail) are fine.

Is it common for female platys to die a few months after giving birth?

Answers:

Guppies usually start to breed when they are about 4 - 5 months old and they seem to live for about 2 - 3 years. The Platy is very easy to breed. Platys will give birth to 20 to 40 fry when spawning. It is reported that one should keep plenty of plants for babies to hide in or the parents may eat them. Here is a good source of all you want to know.

http://www.fishlore.com/profiles-platy.h.

---

probably what happens is after they give birth they are bullied by the male and die of exhaustion, usually they need some space after giving birth, it takes a lot out of them, i noticed when i had more females say 4 or so to 1 male they didnt tire as easy

---

Not really, I would put them in a separate breeding tank, or use one of those breeding nets where they can give birth in privacy and they babies are safe too. Parent plattys will eat newborn babies. Also, feed the mothers a little extra or higher protein meals. They need extra nourishment. You can give them freeze dried bloodworms, or any of the frozen hikari treats from the petshop. It will give them back nourishment that they lost.

---

Giving birth is stressful, and can leave liverbearers prone to disease, or bad water conditions. Normally it rare to lose a platty, or any livebearer after birth. Have you tested your ammonia, and nitrate levels? Do you have cover where a fish can hide out if need be? Are your platty getting their veggs? Platty are omnivores and need a fair amount of vegetable matter in their diet.

PS- You tank is very overstocked. The platty alone are likely too much. With the kind of fish you have you should have one inch of fish per gallon. Successfully having the tank you describe long term will need better filtration, more regular water changes via gravel vacuun, AND regular water testing.

---

to be honest ive owned platies for 2 years i have 7 females and 3 males and all females have given birth yet none have died since thier births