mickey mouse tetra

Question
she is pregant.she has been for a while now i have got her in a net on the side of the tank. but she still has not droped yet.the male is just out side the net he will not leave her, waiting for dinner i think. is there anymore i should do to help her along with the frys? plz help. many thanks

Answer
Hi Sandra.  I think you may be talking about a "Mickey Mouse Platy" not a Tetra.  They can hold fry for 30+ days and if conditions are not correct, they can hold on to them even longer.  You do not tell me what other fish you have in the tank (besides the one hanging out), the temperature or how you take care of your tank.  So, I'm only able to give you a generic answer.

First off, she will start to look literally like she is going to pop (with NO SIGNS of scales "pineconing" or sticking out).  She may eat like crazy before hand, and then the day she is going to drop she will stop eating.  Also, when you look at the back end of her (by her back fin on the bottom) it will start to look "square" almost box-like, and the ventral fin will get darker.  This is another good sign.  You can try to "coax" her in to having them (if she's ready) by slowly raising the temp. to 80'ish, and do a 25-30% water change.  This helps a lot of the time.

Do not take her out of the net if you are sure she is pregnant, IF you want to keep your fish (obviously you know that).  Lastly, make sure you try to feed the mom while she's having them (just a flake or 2 or even a couple of freeze dried blood worms is what I use), because she will eat the fry too if she's hungry enough.

If for some reason you have a Tetra, and not a platy, please know that Tetra's spawn and have eggs, they do not have live fry.  Tetra's kind of look like triangles.  MM Platys look like "regular" fish with the outline of Mickey Mouse on their tails.

If you have any other questions, please write me back.  Also, when she has them, I'd love to hear how many she has and how it goes!!