Help! Platy fry.... in an all 'male tank!'

[Vlowman]

Hello,

I've just had a shock - or at least as much of one as three tiny fish babies can produce - when I spotted them in my theoretically all male platy tank.

The context here, however, is that a couple of months ago I got two platies, knowing nothing about sexing them. When I realised that I had a male and female I could end up with an out of control fish population, I returned the obvious female to the pet store and came back with what I believed to be males.



So I now have three moderately sized platies with - as far as I can tell - pointy anal fins. But also three babies.

How could this have happened? Is there any chance that they were left with me a week ago by the now departed female and were just too small to notice for a week (I find this somewhat hard to believe unless they are practically microscopic to begin with)? Or does one of my 'males' have a deceptive looking anal fin?

Here is a photo of the two with the most convincing gonopodiums:



And here are some of the other one (dark orange) that I'm now suspecting may be a secret female based on a smaller-than-the-other-two-thing-that-might-or-might-not-be-a-gonopodium!

[Martinspuddle]

Either your female gave birth before you removed her or you still have a female Platy in your aquarium.

The 'pointy anal fin' is called a gonopodium.

[Vlowman]

Either your female gave birth before you removed her or you still have a female Platy in your aquarium.

Which it is is key question - do any of the photos I just added help rule any of them in or out as females that fooled me... and the pet shop guys!? Can't believe this - after I specifically returned a female to avoid it!

[Gingerlove05]

They all look male to me.
I would suspect the female may have already dropped the fry before you took her back.
Its very easy to miss the fry as they are small nearly transparent and will hide out of the way so they dont get eaten

[Vlowman]

They all look male to me.

That's what I thought! I'm a bit suspicious though of my not spotting them for a week - given how tiny they are even now.... That's what has me second guessing....

[PaulVerrall]

Who knows in this day and age, you may have a gender neutral, an identifying as something else or a non binary omni sexual platy

[keithmart]

For what it is worth, fish can and do change sex, so you may not be a one sex tank for long.

[Gingerlove05]

For what it is worth, fish can and do change sex, so you may not be a one sex tank for long.

Once livebearers have reached an age and determined which sex they are, they stay that way for life. You can have some that mature later than others

That's what I thought! I'm a bit suspicious though of my not spotting them for a week - given how tiny they are even now.... That's what has me second guessing....

The fry stay pretty small for a short time. I’ll try and find some old pics of my platy fry at around a week old. Might give you an idea of size

[plankton]

For what it is worth, fish can and do change sex, so you may not be a one sex tank for long.

Not many fish can change sex, that's mainly a myth, but there are a few that can.
I've not heard of a xiphophorus species that actually does. There are some tales, but it's probably more likely to be a late/slow developer.
The dubious one does look a bit different to normal, but it's more likely there were some fry disguised as ghosts......they can hide well.

[Errbill]

I came on to post a question about platy fry and thought I’d add it to this thread.
So I have 4 platys - 3 females and a male.
I performed a 50% water change this morning and took out all my plastic decorations and plants and gave them a clean too.
We noticed 2 little translucent fish hiding behind a zebra snail and haven’t seen them since.
I looked this evening and there is a platy,must be a week or 2 old as it has colouration just swimming around out of nowhere.
I literally emptied the tank of all decorations and 50% of the water and it wasn’t there then.
Where the hell was that hiding?