Here!!!!!!!! what do you think?

Question
Yo! Miss Fields,
i dunno which Eric you are thinking about but i am Eric from Dakota....i am not disgstin as ya speak...i speak crude ways cause i am a country bumpkin. So i think you will get it. I dunno what you call fish courting.. i call it fuckin becoz thats tha only way i know. I am sorry if iam  insultin ya.

Well i need help in ahem ahem..making fish put babies. I right now grow platees. Help me make them put babies. I have Mango Platee.

Thank ya for ya advance help (i hope)

Answer
Dear Eric, YO! He, he, he!

~Well, please, please, please forgive me!!!:( I am so sorry about what I said...I thought you were somebody trying to be rude and mean to me just for the fun of it. Shame on me completely but it's hard not to think that-----people can be so mean sometimes in life....Oh I'm sorry about it all.... There is nothing wrong with the way you talk...I just didn't know that's how you DID speak...I am so sorry...

~As an apology I will try to give you everything I know of about raising platies----or make them put babies....
*First off platies are one of the easiest fish to breed. Actually there is nothing really to it. If you already have females (you can tell the differance by looking at the anal or bottom fin nearest to the platy's tail, if it is shaped like a normal fin--then a female. But if it is pointed and a bit long--then a male...It's very easy to tell) But anyway if you already have some females then they are almost certainly already pregnant with babies...Usually platy's have babies after 30 days when born the babies also called fry sometimes, will be like teeny tiny miniature replicas of their mother and will swim and dart about, mainly to find a place to hide. Probably one of the only problems with raising platies is keeping the babies from being eaten by the parents! Perhaps the best way to prevent this is to put many many live or plastic bushy plants in the aquarium in very thick bunches. That way the babies can dart and hide in the plants if the  platies attempt to chase them. There are also devices called breeding traps I believe for livebearers like your platies. It usually consists of a plastic box that floats in the aquarium with a V shaped device where when you place the female mother-to-be...When she begins to drop her babies, they will fall down into the V shaped and to a safe compartment where the mom can't get at them. There are also breeding nets, usually a fine netting in a plastic box frame that is hung on the side of your aquarium. The female is placed in there to keep the other occupants of the aquarium from disturbing her or her babies and the breeding net should have some plastic plants where the babies can furthur hide. What also would work is a breeding net with holes large enough so the babies can get through but the mother fish cannot. This works in a designated aquarium for the babies to live and be the only occupants. The babies can slip through the holes of the net as they are born and are safe in the aquarium free of any other fish that might eat them.

You might find the easiest option would be to plant the aquarium up heavily...But it's completely your decision. ;-)

*How do you know if your female platy is pregnant? On her abdomen she will have a dark spot there...Supposedly that is the young babies growing inside her. Did you know that even after just one mating, or courting---the female platy can continue to have up to several more batches of babies with no male present?

*Next after the babies are born they should be fed at least 4-5 times a day..Preferably a bit more. The babies will do well on finely crushed high quality tropical fish flake food. You can make it a perfect size for the babies by putting a few pinches in a plastic bag, twist the open end close and rub the flake food in the bag between your fingers to make it into a fine powder. Then you can  sprinkle a tiny pinch of it on the surface of the water. Watch and make sure the babies are getting a few bites and the other platies aren't eating all of it before it reaches the babies. It's best, for the highest rate of growth, to feed a combination of high quality flake food and live food. Baby brine shrimp are excellent! You can hatch some yourself from eggs you should be able to find in your local petstore. You can also try the freeze dried version. If any food is too large for the babies to bite, then pulverize it with your fingers. Remember try to feed tiny but frequent amounts throughout the day...and feed variety.

~With good feedings, well maintained water quality, and ideal temperature...plus a little time, your babies will grow quite fast and before you know will be just like the other platies and will be ready to continue the line in just a couple of months! ;-) You might be able to give some of your near or full home-grown babies to your petstore. They might even give you some money for them!

~*Really and truly I am so extremely sorry about what I said. I completely forgive you...Please forgive me...

~*I am wishing you only the very best Eric! I hope you have the very, very best of luck in raising platies. They are wonderful fish to have. Remember you can email me again on anything else you need to know. I am more than happy to help...But if you are still mad at me...You don't have to...
Oh I'm so sorry...

*let me know how things are going from time to time if you don't mind....*

Please take care and happy fishkeeping Eric!
Karen~
ps: And I am so sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I tried many times everyday to get your letter to show up but it wouldn't and I just now got it to show up tonight. I hope I helped! Please let me know how things are going.