How long does it take before the female red fire platy gives birth?

All strains of platy have approximately the same gestation period. Four weeks is considered normal. If the water is very warm (over 30 degrees celcius) the gestation period may drop to three weeks, and in cold water or with no food available may take up to six weeks. The longer gestation periods of six to eight weeks are common in mollies and it is possible to confuse platies and mollies, they look similar. It is almost impossible to tell from looking at a fish how far along she is in her pregnancy. The size of the abdomen will depend on the number of fry she is carrying. A fish carrying fifty fry and two weeks into her pregnancy will look the same as a fish carrying ten and about to give birth. Anywhere between 10-60 is normal (I had a fish drop 85) with 25 being about the average. You will hear references to something called the gravid spot or eye spot. This is a dark patch that appears on the back of the abdomen. It is often used as a guide in guppies as it becomes larger and darker as her pregnancy progresses. However in platies it rarely appears and when it does is not at all reliable. The best way of predicting is to wait until she drops some fry and then count the days. She will usually drop within a week of four weeks since her last fry.