Male platy with gravid spot / female platy with gonopodium??

Viviparous or Live bearing fish - Mollies, Platties, Guppies
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rtspk
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Hi there- I'm new to fishkeeping and have purchased some female platties and a smallish aquarium with a view to expanding with a large aquarium and more fish once I have the hang of it. Now, I'm pretty sure one of the fish is actually male as it has (what I think is) quite a pronounced gonopodium, so I've been worrying about ending up with fry. But then I've also realised it has a dark gravid spot and also looks sort of pregnant??

If somebody could advise me on whether my little pal is male or female I would be so appreciative.... :swim2:


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I've tried to take decent pictures but they're quite fast...

Thank you
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plankton
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Welcome to the forum. :)
I think it looks like a male "balloon" platy that's also full of food.
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black ghost
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It’s a standard male Platy, not a balloon, that either used to be female or is just a late developing male. Actually changing sex is rare and you may even get a brood before the change is complete, but most of the ‘lump’ is food.
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rtspk
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Amazing thanks for the quick replies!

So, as I see it what I ned to do is end up with two aquariums if I dont want to breed fish. So do you recommend waiting until she inevitably has fry at some point and then splitting up male and female into two tanks? Any advice on the best way to go about this process ? Obviously I want to cause minimal stress to the fish...

Thanks, I really appreciate the help
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Gingerlove05
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They can have upto 8 batches of fry from one insemination :D
Let the female give birth in the main tank and catch the fry after, less stress for her and they can have issues if moved when pregnant or about to give birth.
But once the fry are born they’re all female to start with, generally they dont start to show any dimorphism until around 3-4months old, and even then (as @black ghost said) some develop later than others. So if your wishing to separate male from female you need to keep an eye on the anal fin. When they start to develop you’ll notice that the females tend to retain a rounded fan shaped anal fin whereas the males anal fin starts to curve in toward the body and the outer/lower edge of the fin starts to look it has a thick outside edge as the gonopodium develops.
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rtspk
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aaaaaaaah haahhaah I can see this getting out of hand very quickly - thanks so much for the advice everyone! Much appreciated. i imagine I will end up posting on here quite a bit as my house slowly gets overrun with Platy fish....

Thanks again!
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Martinspuddle
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Greetings :] & welcome to AF-UK
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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Gingerlove05
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rtspk wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:40 am aaaaaaaah haahhaah I can see this getting out of hand very quickly - thanks so much for the advice everyone! Much appreciated. i imagine I will end up posting on here quite a bit as my house slowly gets overrun with Platy fish....

Thanks again!
It did go that way for us, we ended up with over 400 fry, because they can produce multiple (upto 8) batches from 1 insemination then they’re constantly pregnant for 8 months before they stop, then its sorting out the fry :D
To the tune of “the saints go marching in”:
Oh fluffy sheep! Oh fluffy sheep! Oh fluffy sheep are wonderful, they’re white Welsh and fluffy! Oh fluffy sheep are wonderful!
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