Fry question - Platies and Guppies

[tjmonet74]

30g tank with:
- 3 platies
- 2 guppies (I had 3, but one Mama recently gave birth and died)
- 2 Danios
- 2 Neon Tetras
- Pleco
- snail

10g tank with:
20 or so guppy fry (recent additions)

Background info:

My female platy is acting strangely, lots of time spent on the bottom of the tank, tucked in behind a plant. She comes out for food and then quickly returns to her little quiet space. I've only had her and her boyfriend for about 1 week now and she's huge...I'm suspecting she's pregnant.

Questions:

1) If she's close to birthing, should I put her in my 10g tank with the guppy fry so she can birth in there, uninterrupted by the other fish? or should I just leave her in the 30g tank and then move the fry into the 10g tank, as I did with the guppy fry?

2) can the guppy fry and platy fry live in harmony in the 10g tank?

[Nerine]

I'd leave her...I don't like moving pregnant fish who are near the end of gestation...I personally haven't had good luck with that...but catch the babies if you can! and yes the two can live happily together I put my guppy and danio fry together and they do fine!

Can you see the fry's eyes in the platty near her vent? when you see the eyes really clearly then she's close!

[tjmonet74]

I just went in to check on the whole eye ball thing and we've got babies!!!!

Jeesh, my fish are baby making machines! First my guppy and now my platy and this is all within a few days. Unfortunately my guppy died after birth and so I was really hesitant to move my Platy. So I'm just going to leave her be, as she clearly is in labour. I only saw a few though, so perhaps she's not done. I just turned off the lights and walked away to let her be. Hopefully all the other fish will leave the fry alone until morning and I'll try and scoop them up and add them to the 10g tank. With the guppies there was lots of places for them to hide because when I went hunting for them, there were lots more than I thought initially. So there could be a lot more than just the 2 that I saw.

Anyways, thanks for the assistance. I'm so excited!!!

[touchofsky]

Good luck with them.  I agree that it is best to leave your mother fish where she is when the birth is so close.  I hope your mama platy does well, and please keep us updated.