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It looks like two of my platies are pregnant. After the last lot of fry made fish food for my other fish, I figured I might put them in one of those floating breeding things this time around. Question is, approximately how long is it between them appearing to be pregnant & fry arriving - I don't really want to move them until I have to.

from the time of breeding to birth it is approx 20-40 days

It isn't a matter of them appearing pregnant as they can store sperm for 6 months or so after breeding just once, and with this they can have fry every month for 6 months:%)

So when exactly did you're female have fry last time? A closer range on dates would be 28-32 days. And instead of placing them in a breeding net/box, get some plants and plant a section of your tank really well. Get some Anacharis, and leave it floating near the planted plants. These plants will give your fry a place to hide and be safe without being stressed or eaten. Also it will be less stressful on the female to stay in her normal tank, as when they are moved even if it in a breeding net in her home tank she can become stressed. In becoming stressed she may refuse to deliver till comfortable again. Absorb her fry, or die in the process of either of the above. Some breeders have luck with them, I just tend to let my females deliver where they are...Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Wow! Learn something new every day. That's pretty amazing.

We set up our tank around mid-December last year. One of our females had fry last week (our first!), and are hopefully hiding (have not seen hide nor hare of them in the last 5 days). Now the other two females are getting noticably bigger.

I don't suppose you have a picture of some Anacharis? I have no idea what it looks like and didn't have much joy when doing an internet search.

Can that last request about the Anacharis. When you mentioned it last time I searched and couldn't find any pictures. I just did it again and got one straight up. Shall see if I can find some of this or something similar.

[font color="#800080"]Hi there, I was just reading about the Fry situation... We have had our Female Neon Swordtail for 6 months now and I sware she has been pregnant most of the time. We even put 2 plattys in to capture his attention elsewhere, but to no evail. Stinker!
Anyway last week was the first time in those 6 months that we found fry. ONE and ONE fry only hiding in the gravel, came out when I was cleaning the tank. YIKES! I almost sucked him/her up!!! It was horrible!!!!! But it seems as though all of the fry she has had in the past several months have been appetizers for the rest of the aquarium family. TRAGIC! I know it is nature but it is just too horible to think about!
Well this past Thursday we put her in a breeder box in her home tank, okay we have done this numerous times and she just says Blah on you, I am not having these babies so we just let her out and let nature take it's course. As HORRIBLE as it is! Well this past Sunday we decided once again to just let her out because she was not dropping any, well low and behold the breeder box was full of babies!!!!!! What a good girl..... LOL
Now we have about 20 fry plus the lonley one we found a week before. This is our 1st experience with this so I am very nervous! I am wondering how long the fry can stay in the breeder Net and how will they effect the water perimiters?:%)
Thank you for any advice!!!
Angie[/font]

Cool! Lucky you!

I seem to have the opposite problem to you guys - I have 3 adult platies (one male, two females) in a community tank with gold barbs and clown loaches. I expected only a few fry to survive to adulthood, but after a couple of months I have 50 fry! oh dear!

It seems the trick is to have plants either floating or near enough to the surface that the fry can hide in them. They're zippy little things and seem to have no problem out-manoeuvring the barbs amongst the plants.

This week I'm going to catch the whole darn platy family and give them back to the lfs before they completely over-run my tank.