Sunbursts/ how to tell if your female is pregnant

Question
Hello
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions for us.  We are new to this. So we may have alot of questions. My son recieved an aquarium for Christmas and I have been helping him learn the ropes of care etc.  His tank was set up and running for about 2 weeks prior to adding 3 sunbursts.  As it turns out one is female and 2 are male.  He also has a African Dwarf frog in the tank. The fish have been in the tank 2 weeks now and the frog 1 week.  We have noticed that the female is slightly bloated in the belly area. How would we tell if she is pregnant? The tank is a 20 gallon and has 3 plants and we are using an AquaClear Mini for our filter system and the water went slightly milky for the about 2 days after adding the fish.  All is clear now.  Is there room for a few more females so that this one doesn't get run ragged by the males? Lastly if she is pregnant what do we do to save as many of the babies that we can and how long before they would be able to go out into the world (he has a few friends that would love to have them)
thanks again
Heather

Answer
I'm sorry for the delay but my 2 yo have been very ill.
By sunbursts I'm assuming you mean Platy's?  If so, I'd say do some research online for pictures.First off they tend to look literally like they are going to POP.  So long as they are getting fat, and their scales are not protruding and they look happy and healthy, then there is a good chance they are pregnant.  Usually these fish tend to "square off" right prior to having the fry, meaning their bellies get to looking "square". I suppose this is because there are so many fry packed in there. If you want to "save" the fry, the best thing to do is get a breeding net and put the momma in there ahead of time (about a week....give or take, unless you know the last time she had fry, then you can calculate it). This will give the fish time to adjust to the new surroundings and calm down before having them. In the alternative there are "breeding traps" in which the fry will fall down through a grate (unharmed) so that they do not become a tasty meal for the mom or other fishmates, because the mother fish (sometimes) AND other tankmates find the fry a tasty little treat (ewwww, I know, how horrible), but it happens! Generally they have the fry in the early morning hours, and hopefully you'll be lucky enough to "see it" because it is SPECTACULAR to watch the amazing births! Remember, birthing can sometimes take up to 6 hours, but as soon as you think she's done having them, if she is in a community tank, you may want to move her to another tank so she can "have a rest" before putting her back in with everyone else. She's going to be tired and sometimes the males can be relentless in their mating pursuit!

The fry when born are ITTY BITTY. You need to get some fry food for them, which is basically a powder that you feed them. THAT'S how small they are.  It will be at least 4 months before you will be able to "move them on". They will STILL be pretty small then, but 4 months is the earliest I have had luck with them surviving when leaving the tank.  It has NOTHING to do with "needing mommy" or anything like that because they don't, it's because of tank conditions. They don't adjust well to BIG changes (i.e. someone else may not keep their tank like you and this is too much of a difference for them and shocks them and kills them).

Good luck, I hope this helps!!  Get back to me if you have more questions.

;o)