Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My platy (freckles) is an orange and speckled female. I'm not sure if she's pregnant, although her belly is quite round. I bought her about a week and a half ago and the pet store said my fish could already be pregnant. She has another female companion platy in the tank and she used to be very energetic and in control of the other fish. She no longer swims around the tank except to eat every now and then. Instead, she spends her time hiding at the bottom of the tank, being very still, and resting above the pebbles behind plants with her top and bottom fins pulled close to her body. Does anyone know what's going on/if this is a normal change in behavior for a female (possibly pregnant) platy? Thanks a bunch!

New development: freckles was up and swimming and i noticed that she is much skinnier (skinnier than my other female platy, before freckles was the huge one) and i'm wondering if she just lost weight suddenly or gave birth and i missed it. i guess my main question is how rapidly do fish gain and lose weight because my two platies have seemed to trade places in the weight department over night? do they get bloated after eating? how do you know if you missed the birth?
does anybody have a good picture of a pregnant platy so i can compare it with my fish?
sorry for all of the questions, i'm just confused and concerned.

Basically, I believe your platy was pregnant. I have had little luck in the past finding a very good pregnant platy picture and since your platy is a darker color it would have been difficult to diagnose. As long as your platy is no longer sitting on the bottom of the tank and swims normally, that's what it was, and you very well may have missed the birth. Platies will eat their young if you do not intervene. Needless to say, there's no way to know that you missed it - just the behavior she's doing currently. Is it normal (swimming about and eating properly, pooping every now and then)?
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

thanks for your help but sadly freckles died this morning. i noticed that she'd lost a lot of weight, stayed at the bottom of the tank in hiding and would spit out her food. when i found her she was belly-up on the bottom of the tank. also, her fins were always tucked in really close to her body. do you have any ideas what could have gone wrong? my other platy is doing really well. could she have been ill? was there something i could have done?

I'm sorry for your loss.
As for the signs you were describing, and the fact that she died quickly leads me to believe there is an ammonia build up in your tank. Have you checked your water parameters? If there is an ammonia build up your results will read more than 0 ppm or some color equivalent. There are two reasons why this could have happened: 1) you recently set up this aquarium, 2) you haven't been keeping up with your tank maintenance or you've changed the number of fish you were keeping within the last week. The only way to change the ammonia is by water changes. First, let's make sure this is the cause. You'll need to do a water test, and if you don't have a water testing kit, I would suggest you purchase one or if you can't afford to do so right now, you can more than likely take a water sample to your pet store and they can test it for you.
As for what you could have done... unless it was that you have been slacking on your water maintenance, there really isn't anything you could have done because if it was a newly set up tank, cycling does take time so you are bound to lose some fish. Also, your freckles may have been more prone to this change than your other fish because they all have different internal tolerances (whether this platy has been exposed to big ranges before or not, is it's slime coat providing the protection it needs or is there a whole in the slime coat that allowed something to enter the fish's system, etc.).

Let me know what your water parameters are so we can identify what the problem was and if it will affect your other fish. I have a feeling it is ammonia though based on your descriptions.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

okay, so i went to the pet store today and tested the water and everything was perfect except the pH was a little high but the people said that was fine because platies like that. they said, judging from freckles' behavior, that she had been pregnant, gave birth and then had a difficult time afterwards. they said that some platies become very weak and sensitive after giving birth and that she just passed away from that and i did nothing wrong. I want to thank you for all of your help and i have some exciting news. I bought two more female platies to keep my mickey company! i got a tiger platy and a calico one. in three weeks if everything has gone fine i hope to go back to the store and buy 5 neon tetras. i'll tell you how it goes and thanks again for answering all of my questions!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, these things happen. I didn't know that about platies (as I have raised guppies), although I can understand that now.
Getting new fish is always exciting, and your fish tank is perfect for them, so they'll have a happy home, and that's always good.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."