Platy Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 10 Gallons (45 Litres)
Care Level: Easy
Water Conditions: 7-8.5 pH and Medium to Hard
Temperature: 20-26 °C (68-79 °F)
Maximum Size: 2 1/2 Inches (6 cm)
The common platy (Xiphophorus), also known as the southern platyfish or mickey mouse platy is a small, popular live-bearing fish. It is native to North America and Central America and can be found from central Mexico to Belize. But like many other live bearers, it is now listed as an invasive species in several countries, and is still spreading through escapes and releases.
Platies are closely related to the commonly kept green swordtail, and they will interbreed if given the chance. It should come as no surprise that they share similar habitats, and platies can be found in slow moving streams, ponds, canals and drainage ditches.
They stay relatively small in the home aquarium, and both males and females grow to a maximum size of around 2 ½ inches (6 cm). The size difference between males and females is slight, but generally the females will be larger than the males.
Platies do not have an overly long life span and most will live to a maximum age of three years in a home aquarium, though there are rare cases of them living five years or longer. They reach maturity quickly though, and will be ready to breed in as short as four months of age.
Housing
Platies are undemanding when it comes to housing, and most will thrive in a well maintained, 10 gallon (37 litre) tank. With that being said, a 10 gallon tank should only hold a handful of platies and problems quickly arise from the fact that platies are extremely prolific live-bearers, and any tank containing them will soon be bursting with fry.
So what is the best size aquarium for the platies then? If you don’t have a plan to deal with continuous “surprise” babies, then you should aim for at least 29 gallons for an tank containing platies. This will allow the fry to grow to adulthood without over-crowding or even crashing the tank. The grown fry can then be sold or given away – something that is next to impossible to do with newborn fry.
I would strongly recommend choosing an Aquaclear Power Filter
If you choose to use an HOB filter, you need to take precautions if you plan on having any fry in the tank. The filter intake will suck numerous fry into the impeller of doom in the filter, so you should use something to cover the intake which still allows water through. Some options are sponges, mesh and some people even use non-toxic stockings.
Feeding
Platies are omnivores in the wild, and eat plants, algae, insects and small crustaceans. This diet should be reproduced as closely as possible in the home aquarium, and that be accomplished through feedings that consist of a high quality flake food and live or frozen foods.
In order to choose a high quality flake food, you should always read the ingredients on the container. Generally you want to stay away from fish food that has fillers like rice near the beginning of the ingredients, and try to choose foods that contain fish or other protein sources for the first few ingredients. I recommend using Hikari Micro Wafers, which is one of the best foods on the market.
As for live foods, platies will happily accept most of the more common live foods. They will eat blackworms, bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, fruit flies and mosquito larvae (illegal to culture in many areas).
If you can’t provide live foods, then frozen foods are nearly as good and far more convenient. They can be fed frozen bloodworms, blackworms, daphina, brine shrimp, and most other live foods that are available in your area.
Breeding
Getting platies to breed is not difficult – trying to stop them from breeding is where it starts to get difficult. Like most of the other commonly available live-bearers, platies will take care of breeding on their own, and don’t require any special triggers for breeding.
But like other live-bearers, you need to have a larger ratio of females to males if you want the breeding to go smoothly in your tank. A good ratio to have is at least two females for every male, and it’s not uncommon for people to go even further and have three females for every male.
The reasons for keep this ratio are simple – the males continually try to breed with the females, and in a small aquarium there is nowhere for the females to escape to. With the continuous breeding efforts on the male, the female will quickly become stressed, and stress often leads to illness, or even death.
Once a female platy has become impregnating, it’s easy to identify. Her belly will quickly swell to massive proportions (they’re often nicknamed “the bus”), and a dark gravid spot will appear near her anal fin. The gravid spot is caused by dark eyes of the fry pressing against the scales and is common is most live-bearers.
After the female has given birth, either the fry or the adult fish should be removed to another fish tank. Platies are notorious for eating their fry, and while some usually survive in a planted tank, most will become tasty snacks for their parents.
If you want to keep the adults and fry together, it’s important to have a heavily planted tank. Some of the best plants to use are Java moss, Water sprite, or any other dense plant that the fry can hide in.
The newborn fry are relatively well developed, and no special fry food is required. They can immediately be fed powdered flake food, but they will benefit from any live food included in their diet. Some live foods that can be fed to the fry are baby brine shrimp, microworms and banana worms if you can find them.
Thanks.
I separated 2 fry and have kept them in a seperate tank. They have grown well and are now about 1.2 cm long. Can I return them to the parents tank? And if I can, when can this be done? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
They should be fine at that size, and the key concern is the parents eating the fry. But one they’ve reached the size of a dime or so (around 1 cm), they are usually safe to go back into the tank. Just make sure the tank isn’t overstocked, and there are plenty of places to hide in case there are an aggression problems when they are first added back.
Hi Robert, thank you so much for your reply. I’ve returned the fry to the main tank a few hours ago and it seems successful so your advice is appreciated. I’m not sure if I heard them shout ‘mum, dad, we’re home’! Ha ha. Seriously, it seems to have gone well and the fry are enjoying the larger tank with lots of areas to hide and play in.
Cheers. Take care. Valerie
That’s great to hear Valerie. And I’m sure they’ll have a nice family reunion around a table laden with fish flakes soon. 😉
I have 3 male and 1 female, how will this effect them. they are in a 20 gal tank
I would definitely try and get some more females, or that poor female is going to be harassed (possibly to death) by the males. There won’t be enough space for her to escape their attention, so you’ll need more females to disperse the males interest.
I can already tell what you are saying, she is staying on one side of the tank away from the males. I am about to put 4 guppys in this tank, do you recommend me puting in 2 females or more, i will have 10 fish in there including the guppies if i add the 2 females. Also how many times a day should i feed them.
I think you’ll still be ok with that number of fish. You’ll have to keep an eye on the water though, and it wouldn’t hurt to add live plants to the aquarium. You’re going to be right on the edge of how many fish you keep in a tank that size, and plants will help to keep the water parameters stable (they’re great for dealing with waste).
And you’ll also have to be careful you don’t have a population explosion from babies, but platies are notorious for eating their young, so you probably won’t have a problem.
As for feeding, it’s best to do two small feedings a day. I like to do one in the morning, and one in the evening. Only feed enough food that they can consume it in three minutes. Any longer, and you’re probably over feeding them.
Why has my platy fish given birth to soon?
Why do you say it was too soon?
Oh wow I just got platys need to check if they are male or female!
You most likely will have both. Which means get ready for lots of babies. 😉
One of my friends already had babies with their platy.the mother did eat a few though.there were like 20 baby platys.
There’s a joke among some aquarists that platys are born pregnant. It’s great that so many survived. They’re notorious for eating their babies and hopefully your friend can raise them all to adulthood.
How can I tell females from males?
The easiest way is to look at the anal fin. The females anal fin will be a nice triangle shape, while the males (theirs is called a gonopodium) will be elongated and narrow. Also, the females will have a gravid spot, which is a dark spot near the rear of the belly.
I have 2 males and 3 female platys. Although the girls have gotten extremely large at time they soon lose that size. Which leads me to beleive they give birth and have a meal wile I sleep. I picture the other platys lined up at the pregnant females caudal fin area with their cafeteria plates and utensils
lol…that’s a horrible image, but also pretty accurate. I find if you add a combination of floating plant, and really dense plants on the substrate like Java moss, some of the fry will be able to hide from the hungry adults. They still have among the worst fry survival rate of any live bearers I’ve kept though.
My platies fish has a white like thing growing out of its side it also had one on its eye I got rid of the one one it’s eye I don’t know what they are I had guppies in with them and I had one guppies die from it can you help
It sounds like you have pop eye with your fish. Is the eye bulging out right now? Or is it just a growth on the eye?
could she be talking about anchor worms?… reason I ask cause it sound like the same thing I experienced w/platy and other liver bearers, I couldn’t keep platy’s or any live bearers due to this…
I bought 4 females to prevent them having babies but unknown to us females can store sperms for around 4 months we now have a tank with around 20 babies of varying ages and sizes.
This is an incredibly common mistake. It seems like almost every female livebearer is already pregnant in fish stores, unless they very carefully seperate them when they’re still fry. At least you can experience raising fish fry now, which is one of the most fun aspects of raising fish.
hey i have 2 male and 1 female why is the 2 male fighting
The males pretty regularly fight with each other. The addition of more females would definitely help. Also, how large is your tank? If it’s large enough, you can add ornaments and plants to create areas where they can’t see each other. That will often solve the fighting problem, as they will lose interest when they lose sight of each other.
Very helpful. I have platys and mosquito fish in the same tank. It is 20 Gallons and has plenty of room for the fry.
Is there any fish that the platies can cross breed with? Like other livebearers?
Platies can crossbreed with swordtails, but no other live bearers. So always make sure you don’t mix those two types of fish.
I got 4 Platys from a friend, 1 mail n 3 female within 6 months I had over 70 mixed size baby’s
There’s a reason the females have been nicknames “the bus”. They carry a LOT of babies.
Hi I have got green spot on my tuxedo platy what is the cause
Do you have a picture of your fish? But it sounds like it might be fish lice. You can pick up medication to treat it at any local fish store.
I have my platys, 3 females and a very large male in an unheated 15 gallon tank that is now at 66F. It also contains white clouds and 3 native redside shiners which are stressed in the summer but are a great aquarium fish. However, though not aggressive, they are very quick and somewhat, in human terms, jealous feeders, grabbing spinach from the platys even though it’s not a favorite food. After they consumed the babys of several platys I isolated a gravid female in a 2.5 gallon tank who gave me 20 plus young, after consuming 5 or more before I removed her. They are doing well. The surprise is a single lone survivor baby platy that is larger than the ones in safety, though still very small. It lives in and about a cage of Monosolenium tenerum and adjacent java moss in a plastic plant. It is bold, very much so and I hold my breath as shiners pass by in their effective search for food. I quit trying to capture it as it is too fast and I don’t want to injure it. I can only hope it survives to be large enough not to be eaten, say small white cloud size. As well, it manages to remain hidden during weekly substrate cleanings and water change.
Gregg
Pictures of the baby survivor.http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s392/lv2crp/001_zps38d8ngr1.jpghttp://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s392/lv2crp/002_zpslchfwsvc.jpg
Gregg
Hello, I was a beginner when it came to Platys but after research and a few trials I started teaching the workers at Petland and Petco. I utilize live plants on the bottom of my tank and allow even more to float together at the top of the tank. I used to separate my pregnant Platy but learned they get stressed and abort when separated. So, with many Amazon Sword and Water Sprite plants floating on top and planted at the bottom of my tank one one side of my 35 gallon ow tank (the other side is open free water space), I allow my Platy to birth her Fries which quickly stay with the plants at the top of my tank where the Platys cannot reach them in the Plants. Then I go ‘Fishing’, I scoop up the Fries with a small bow and transfer them into their nursery. This really works for me as I have over 200 Fries and ALL my Platys (except for the ‘Father’) were born in my tank.
I’m always amazed by little fish surviving like that. I’ve only ever seen that rarely, but usually they’re smart enough to make it long term. Good luck with your little survivor.
How much do they need to eat?
The best method is to feed them enough so that it will all be eaten after three minutes. If there is still food left after three minutes, you’re feeding them too much.
Hi I have a tank with two large females and 1 large makes, and quite a few of fry at various stages some are definitely big enough to mate, but the male only sticks to the females his own size, and its kind of weird all the other frys are female. While I can’t back it up with any scholarly articles of book references, I have heard low pH and water hardness can produce more females. But like I said, I have no way to confirm if that is true or not.
It’s natural for the male to stick to only the larger females for now, since they have a better chance of producing offspring. But the fry is definitely weird. I’ve heard of it happening before with only one sex being born, but I don’t know the reasons. Are you sure they are all female? Even for someone very experienced with livebearer fry, they can be difficult to sex when they are very young.
We have a 10 gallon tank with 1 gourami, 1 dwarf pleco, 1 Cory, and 3 neons. We got 3 platys which has turned into 9 adult platys and 3 fry. And I think we have a very pregnant female. At this point I think we’re stressing the tank with platys. Any suggestions for stopping the breeding? I don’t want to execute any of them (although I’m not opposed to the circle of life if the fry are eaten).
That’s the biggest problem with a lot of fish like live bearers, or cichlids like convicts. Once they start breeding, it’s almost impossible to get them to stop, barring removing the males and females to other tanks. The only hope you have is that the adults will consume the fry, but that doesn’t sound like it’s happening.
If you can grow them out a bit, you can often give them away to local fish stores, on or sites like Craigslist. It’s not optimal, since they will over crowd your aquarium, but it’s the only solution in the given situation.
can you shop my 2 male platy from fighting
Add more females… get those dude’s minds on the gals.
Of course they…. oh, never mind.
I’m kind of new to tropical fish (I only have a piranha and two goldfish) and I was planning on setting up my 10 gallon and putting a small school of celestial pearl danios in it. I was wondering if I could also put two platies in with a school of six danios or would that be too much of a bio load? If I can would two males fight or should I go for two females?
I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some celestial pearl danios for a few years now, but they’re pretty rare in my area. You’re lucky to have such an amazing looking fish. As for keeping them with platys, you might run into a few problems.
You’ll be right on the edge with your bio-load and you’ll have to be very careful to keep up your weekly maintenance. And if you add potential fry to the mix, you’ll likely crash your tank pretty quickly.
As for the compatibility, there is generally a lot of sparring between male celestial pearl danios, but they rarely attack other species in their tanks. As long as they are kept together in a decent size shoal, their aggression should only be directed at each other, and not at the platys. Platys will also have a lot of aggression towards each other if not kept in the proper ratio of males to females, and if you try to keep all males in a tank that small, it would likely be a never ending brawl.
If I were you I’d probably just stick to the celestial danios, or upgrade the tank in the future and get a community tank going.
That’s funny that you say that the males will continually try to breed with the females. In my tank there are 7 platies, two males and 5 females. It’s a large long planted tank, but after two months, not a single fry.
I’ve had mosquitofish and the males were crazy, constantly chasing after females of all species and sticking out that pointy fin. But the male platies just don’t do that, so I don’t even know if they’ve mated.
Should I add more males? I really want babies!
Hi, can anybody help me? I think I have a pregnant Platy fish. I got her from Premium Pet Supply 3 days ago and am starting to get worried about her giving birth and that kind of stuff.
She has a blue patch of color right by her anal fin and has a darker oval thing under it. She also has a swollen belly.
Recently, she has been barely eating the food I serve my tank (29 gallon tank with 3 assorted molly’s and 3 platy’s)
, Algae Wafers, and has been hiding in the space under my big castle decoration and only comes out to snap at the other fish if they come too close to the castle bottom entrance. Sometimes, she comes up to swim strait at the bubblier, lay outside of the castle entrance, and then goes back in and just sits there.
I did take some photographs to try and help but I’m not sure how to share them with you. Thanks!
It definitely sounds like a gravid spot, so she should be pregnant, but the rest of the behavior doesn’t sound all that healthy. Does she actually lie on the substrate? And are any of her scales sticking out, so she almost looks like a porcupine? What are your water parameters like?
You can e-mail me the pics at admin@aquariumtidings.com
I’ll email you the photographs when I get the chance, but now, a few days later, her little hiding spot has been taken over so now she just sort of floats around and nibbles on the Watersprite and sometimes sprints in to nibble on a wafer.
No, her fins do not seem to be sticking out but yes, she used to just sort of sit down on the gravel with her bottom fins sort of dug a little bit in.
It might be a swim bladder issue, and when you say fins, do you mean scales? Because when they’re sick, their little scales will stick out so they almost look like a pinecone. I would attempt to try feeding the fish some shelled peas to see if helps. Lightly boil the peas for a few minutes, and then allow them to cool. Once they’ve cooled, squeeze the insides of the peas out into the aquarium. This will often help a fish with exhibited the symptoms you describe. Repeat for a few days and see if the fish improves.
i dont know why my platys are dying fast can you give me tips
First things first, you should test your water. Usually bad water is the culprit. Did you cycle your tank before adding them? Are you treating your water before adding it to the tank?
If it’s not the water, then you need to look for sign of illness. Are their bellies bloated? Do they have anything that like fungus on them? It may looks like white cotton candy. Are their fins rotting?
Once I know what’s going on, then we can proceed with treatment options.
If they look find and the water is alright, then you
Hey I have 3 females and 2 males(platys), and I have had them for 5 months, should I be expecting pregnancy soon. Also a few times I thought one of the females was pregnant, but after a week it was gone, and there were no babies, did they eat them really quickly, was she actually sick, she had a black spot at her butt, and a big stomach so I thought she was.
What most likely happened is that the female gave birth and then all of the young were eaten by the fish in the tank. Platies are notorious for this, and very few fry survive unless you have a very large, well planted tank.
And the black spot is called a gravid spot, and it’s actually all the dark eyes of the babies becoming visible through the thinning scales there.
Probably the only way to ensure the babies survive is set up a fully cycled breeding tank. A few might survive if you add floating plants, and something dense like Java moss for them to hide it, but it will never be that many.
IMG_1856.JPG
I am trying to send a picture of my tank, I don’t know if the picture will go through, but I just wanted to show you what I have in the tank right now, and that I have some room to put more things in. I just want to know your opinion, if you think I should add more to my tank or do a breeding tank, because I am ok if some babies die, bc it’s better to have a few, than too many. Thanks for your help.
You can e-mail it to admin@aquariumtidings.com, or you can post it somewhere like imgur and link to it from the comments.
I was given a small tank with 2 small yellow fish in it 2 neon tetras and about 50-60 red tail platies in it. There’s one big female one smaller but still quite big male and a smaller male, But there is about 40 little ones all swimming around like they own the place .it was heavily planted so I took the biggest one out so they have alot less hiding space. Im hoping the yellow ones will eat some . the yellow ones dont really move much, or I’m gonna have to give a load away because they are taking over the tank. What other fish can I put in with platies? Or fish that will eat the fry but not fight the other fish
That’s way,way,way too many fish! Sell some to your local fish store, 60 fish in a small tank is way to many!
It’s been 8 days I got some platys.they are so wild.i kept 2 baby angel fish with them and the platys made them half dead before I realised. They used to chase and bite the angel fish whenever they got chance.
Anyways, I can’t wait to see the platys breeding! 🙂 And the information are so helpful. Thank you so much for this.
I’m happy my information was helpful to you. 🙂
I had 1 male and 1 female platy for about 4 months, but I never got babies. Is it just because they ate it all? How long does it take for them to eat them all?
If you’re sure that you have a male and female, and they’re both mature, then the female should be getting pregnant. Does her belly become very swollen with a black spot near the anal fin? That’s a sign of pregnancy. If you see that, then it means the female is getting pregnant, and the babies are likely getting eaten. Platies are notorious for consuming their babies.
Otherwise, I would look at the setup, water quality, and food. If you keep on top of the water quality, and feed high quality food, with a mixture of frozen and flake food, then they should get into breeding shape in the near future.
Let me know how it goes.
The male chases the female sometimes. What does this mean?
One of my friends gave me some baby platie. I am pretty sure they are all female. Can they breed with the male I have even though they are so much younger?
It will take a few months, but they will be able to breed when they reach sexual maturity.
Thank you so much!
Is 2 male and 2 female ok?
I’d always try to have at least two females for every male. Otherwise they may give the females too much attention, from their constant mating attempts.
Ok thanks
Can platies breed with guppies or can’t that happen? It seems a lot of people keep guppies and platies together.
They can’t crossbreed as they are different families. You would be fine keeping the together.
We have one male platy who is actually the father of the four female platys in our tank who are about five months old. Mom died and I have to say it was a monogamous relationship between her and dad. He ignored the other female platy in the tank totally. We ended up giving her away with some other former babies. When mom died, dad spent three days just circling the tank. As his girls got older, he would make some attempt at contact but they actually seem to want nothing to do with him. They function as their own gang. He has taken to hanging out with the catfish but often seems isolated. We are not seeing any of the “courting” behavior we saw between mom and dad. We feel sorry for the guy.
It’s probably for the best – you don’t want any Game of Throne’s relationships going on in that tank.
But after a while, he’ll probably start to warm up to them. Inbreeding is one of the big problems when you keep livebearers, since they will quite easily and happily mate with their relatives.
Hey I have a 10gal tank with temp between 78-82° with 1 male and 2 female platys and 1 male betta (the tank is currently divided because the platys were harming my betta so the betta is isolated). I just had 1 male die from swim bladder last week sadly but everyone was very functional beforehand with the divider and everything. Now only 1 female is constantly hiding and I think it’s from the male cause I think he’s constantly trying to have sex with her… I did the pea thing so that she would get some food since she wouldn’t come up for flakes but I am getting worried about her.. I don’t want to buy new fish cause I eventually want to have my betta and the platys all live together again. Is there anything I can do to help her?
Reason I had to separate them is they were eating my bettas tail fin severly. (it’s growing back now)
It’s difficult to do much in a tank that small, with a divider in it. The best you could do for right now is to try adding some plants or ornaments to give more line-of-sight- breaks. Also, keep a close eye on the female – hiding can also be a sign of illness. And after the male just died, you want to make sure the illness hasn’t spread.
As for the betta, I can tell you from experience they’re very hard to find tankmates for. Either the betta will attack the tankmates, or the tankmates will attack the betta. I haven’t found much that works. You may want to try keeping the betta on its own if at all possible. Otherwise, it will keep having its tail attacked when you put it back in the aquarium with the other fish.
I have a twenty gallon tank with a beautifull blue female betta and she lives with two male plattys, a cory and a algea eater. They all get along well. Even share the food. I want to add some other fish but am almost afraid to, lol. I don’t want the peace broken. I would like to add two more cory and havn’t decided on the other fish yet.
Corydoras catfish likely wouldn’t upset the delicate balance you have going there. But it’s quite a feat to get those fish to live together in harmony. I hope it continues to go well for you.
Thank you. I will update if I should add or take away any if the fish. The algea eater is getting big very quickly. I may remove him for the safety of the others. I really enjoy watching him though.
Hello, thank you for writing this article! It was very helpful. I currently have a 10 gallon with on upside catfish. I plan on getting a 20 with 4 platys in a few months. My LPS has agreed to take fry that are 3-4 months old for store credit and I was wondering how many fry I can raise in the 10 gallon for that long? Of the tank is well planted, and I do frequent wc will I have to have a filter? Also if some survive in the 20 gallon with the parents, how many can i keep without having an overwhelming bioload? I plan to just have the 4 adults the catfish and maybe a few shrimp in the 2. Maybe a few neon tetras too at the most. Thanks!:)
You’re going to be right on the edge of what you can keep, and the babies run a real risk of crashing your tank. The upside down catfish grow fairly large, and those with the platies would most likely put you right on the maximum of what you can keep. While the live plants will give you some leeway, and huge influx of babies could be a real problem. Especially, since most pet stores won’t take them until they’re nearly adult size, and they’ll probably have to be in your tank for months.
Is there no way to use the 10 gallon for breeding? Or keep the 10 gallon fully cycled and use it as a nursery tank for just the babies? That would probably work a lot better for you if you could do that. Plus, you’d have a much higher survival rate, since platies are notorious for eating their young.
Oh, oops! My writing must have been confusing(I did write it quite late) haha. It was my plan all along to keep only the adult platys and the catfish in the 20 gallon tank and have the babies ONLY in the 10 gallon:) I was wondering how many babies could be kept in the 10 gallon for 3 months?
Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. Assuming you’re selling them when they’re around 1/2 of an inch (1.25cm), then you could probably fit around 10-15 in there without problems. You would just have to keep on top of you water changes, and be really careful about over feeding. You might want to add a few snails to eat any leftover food as well.
i just has one of my female platy fish suddenly die, she was sort of spazing out around the tank and only got her on sunday, do you have any idea of the cause?
Was she bloated at all? Any sign of fungus – a white like growth on her?
If you don’t see anything like that, it usually means there’s something wrong with the tank. I’d check you water first and then go from there. Did you acclimatize the to the tank before adding it? Are there any other tankmates in the aquarium right now?
Hi! I was wondering if there are any tell tale signs a platy is about to give birth? I don’t like putting my pregnant famale in the breeding box for too long as they seem to get a bit stressed.
It’s hard to tell, but when the gravid spot (the dark area near the anal fin) becomes really dark, and when they become really squarish, then are pretty close. Usually a day or two before hand, they start spending more time alone, and you’ll probably be within a few days at that point. I don’t know of any method to pinpoint it more precisely than that though.
Thank you! Something weird happened the other day, one of my females gave birth during the day! I thought they only normally had them at night? I found 16 babies in my main tank, then the pregnant one I mentioned before had about 12 in the breeding box in the nursery tank!! Not quite sure what I’m going to do with them all to be honest!!
That’s the only downside to livebearers – you sometimes go from a handful to hordes of them. Congrats on all the babies, though. 🙂
I am getting frustrated. Last year I had all size platy and fry. They all died due to my wife disconnecting the water heater and the temperature dropped immensely with the AC on all day and night. Ever since no matter what I do none of my fries survive. I tried everything from live plants which worked the first time, to separating the pregnant platy. Whenever I find a pregnant platy at the pet store I buy it, However, when I put it in a breeding box half the fries are aborted, the other half die over the hours, and when I do not put it in a breeding box they find and eat the fries or they die. What can I do? I enjoy having platy’s, but I just keep spending money with no results like I had last year.
Probably the best solution is to have a separate nursery tank just for the pregnant female platies. When you put them in a breeding net, they often become stressed, and then if you don’t notice them giving birth, many of the fry can be lost. You should have good success in small planted tank, and that way you can remove the female after she gives birth.
Otherwise, you will lose a lot of fry in any community tank. The only thing to do is choose carpeting plants, floating plants, and grow a lot of Java moss to help them hide.
I have 3 male plates and 1 female betta and 1 of my plates scales are coming off I was wondering if it’s because of fights or should I add my 2 females?its a 10 gal tank
When you say the scales are coming off, are they only in small sections? And are the fish flashing (rubbing) on anything in the tank?
No I ita only one male and it was the sides but not the belly and he just sits there,I put him with the females
It is most likely from fighting then. The only thing to do is to keep an eye on him, and maybe add some more line-of-sight breaks, like ornaments and plants for him to hide behind. Also, if you start to see any sign of infection, you will need to treat him with antibiotics – though it’s usually best to setup up and cycle a separate tank for treatment if no other fish are sick.
Thanks for the help!But he sadly died,but in a way if they did fight they got revenge because he would try to fight my little bass betta and the smallest male platy,rarely the betta as every fish is scared of her.THANKS!
I’m sorry to hear you lost your fish. Good luck going forward, though.
I mean platys and my females are in a 20 gal tank
Rather, when I do not put the pregnant platy in a breeding box they find the fry and eat them or they die because I no longer see the fry swimming anywhere at night.
What fish would you keep with plates in a 15 gallon planted tank? Guppies?
Some platies are aggressive, but for the part, guppies are pretty good tankmates. As long as you can deal with the hordes of babies that are probably going to come.
Another good tank mate would be corydoras catfish, but you need to make sure you don’t have too many fish in the tank. Most of the other tankmates would grow too large, especially if you have more than a handful platies.
Thanks for replying. I am going to get 5 platy fish. I was thinking about cory cats but the substrate I am using is eco complete (it is a planted tank) caped with medium sized gravel.I do not want to damge the barbles the cory cats have. One last thing does higher temperatures make platy fish live shorter lives. Would 23C or 24C be good for platy fish.
There is a fair bit of research into lifespan and temperature, but from what I’ve read, it only effects an animal if it is well outside of its preferred range. It shouldn’t affect the fish keeping it at the temperature you are proposing as it is well within it’s preferred range.
Thanks for you help
Hi
I have recently got some Platy, but they seem to be struggling to swim against the filter… Can anyone with help that? Do I need a little filter or an external, or is this normal
What size tank do you have, and what size tank is the filter rated for? Many filters come with the option of turning down the flow. But if you can’t do that, you can build some structures in the middle of the aquarium to prevent the current from reaching certain areas. I find this helps in tanks with too much flow.
Well, I have to say that I seem to have the opposite problem of most platy breeders here – after my female gave birth, I woke up to find a tank filled with over twenty fry! They’ve been in there for two weeks, and while I never did a head count, it doesn’t look like any of them were eaten at all! Even between feeding times, the adults will generally ignore the fry, not even chasing or nipping at them. I was banking on the usual cannibalism because I only have a twenty gallon, but it looks like my biggest problem will be finding new homes for them soon!
I knew there had to be a good platy mother out there somewhere. lol
Hopefully you can find a good home for them. It’s one of the toughest things sometimes, with cichlids and livebearers to find all the young new homes.
I just got 2 platys today. If the female is smaller than the male, will they still breed? Also not sure how I’m gonna see the gravid spot… She’s black and orange spotted lol!
That will definitely make it hard to see the gravid spot. lol. But they will still breed even with a size difference – assuming she’s mature enough.
I do not want any fry,so is it OK to have all male Platies.
It should be fine, though you may have occasional aggression issues. Just make sure they have lots of space to swim, but also areas they can hide behind: like ornaments, plants, and rocks.
Cheers Robert i guess that goes for guppy’s as well. Im surprised more people do not go for all male tanks as the problems of having fry and a never ending supply of babies is such a issue.My first tank was ridiculous we had Mollys everywhere and we gave some to a friend and took the rest back to the shop who took them very begrudgingly.
I feel your pain. A few years ago now, I have a few live-bearer tanks and cichlid tanks – they all chose to have babies at the same time. I was trying to give away hundreds of fish and it was a nightmare. Plus, I felt strangely guilty about giving away fish I had raised. I’ve cut down on the number of breeding fish I have since then.
I know this thread is old. But my question is I have a 46 gallon bowfront with 3 males and 3 female platys and I was wondering if my AquaClear 70 gives enough aeration or should I run a air stone too?
There should be more than enough aeration for the fish you describe. There is some natural gas exchanges, and the turbulence caused by the filter will allow more oxygenation of the water.
But it’s important to note, you want to minimize aeration if you have any live plants, as they need the carbon in the water.
My new females were kept with males- what is the probability they are pregnant, and when is the first sign that she is pregnant after mating?
It’s almost guaranteed they are pregnant if they’re at least juveniles. And the belly will begin to swell, and you’ll see a gravid spot (a dark area near the anal fin).
I need help. I started a 15 gallon tank 3 months ago with 1 pleco, 1 Platy and 3 mollies. The mollies all died within a week. The platy and pleco were still going strong so we decided to try to add more fish. Added 1 more platy, a guppy and another molly. 2 days later the platy seems ok but the guppy and mollies are gone. What am I doing wrong???
First of all, have you tested the water? If all that’s alright, are you seeing any sign of illness? Any injuries? What are you feeding them and what kind of filter do you have?
How do I tell males from females I added two in my tank 4 days ago and I added guppies, 2 males and 4 females are the guppies in good ratio if not what should I do?
The ratio is pretty good. As long as you have more females than males, you should be good. As for sexing them, the males have a long straight anal fin, called a gonopodium, while the females have a triangular anal fin.
hi i have 5 platys in a tank males as i was told to have only all male or femlae in tank if i didntwant to breed them and now noticed that one of my platys the biggest one is bullying the other males and dont know what to do
It’s tough when one fish starts getting aggressive, but luckily it usually doesn’t doesn’t amount to too much – unless it’s a group of males picking on a female platy. There are a few things you can do though. Probably the best thing to do is to rearrange the aquarium into different areas. Create rock structures or groups of plants near the middle, so the aquarium is broken into different sections. If a fish can’t see another fish, it won’t bother it. And often, when a fish runs away to another area, the aggression is broken off. If that doesn’t work, then you can try to create hiding places like caves or thick plants where the fish can hide. This will often give it a place to escape from the constant bullying.
But to be honest, this usually works itself out as long as you have a large enough aquarium. Fish try to establish a pecking order, and it usually takes a while. But always watch out for injuries, because if it gets to that point, you may have to rehome one of the fish and treat the injured one.
hi. Thanks for having this blog! its very helpful…
I am a happy new owner of platy fish (I believe 3 females and 1 male- which the females seemed to have gotten pregnant overnight) and 2 mollies. I am wondering how long would I expect the pregnant females to deliver more babies? I have seen 1 little fry but it has appeared to have disappeared from my tank or is hiding..
Unfortunately, these fist are notorious for eating their young. I’m sorry to say the baby is most likely gone. Though if you add some floating plants, and dense plants like Java moss, the babies will have a much better chance of surviving in the future.
As for more babies, you’ll normally see them in a bit over a month. These fish will get pregnant again fast, and their gestation period is usually a bit under 30 days. I hope this helps.
I’m about to get 2 is a 5 gallon tank big enough?
It’s a bit small for platys. If you don’t already have the 5 gallon, you’ll have a much easier time with a larger aquarium. It’s easier to keep the water stable and you can make errors without wiping out your fish.
At the smallest I would recommend a 10 gallon the best size would be a 20 gallon
I recently got some Mickey Mouse platys (2 red, 1 yellow) along with 5 zebra danios and have been having trouble with the yellow platys. In the first 4 days, I had one red and one yellow die, and replaced them both only to have the 2nd yellow one die. We have a 10 gallon tank, aquaponics (very young plants) as well as some plants in the tank. Ammonia is zero but nitrates and hardness are high, yet all the other fish are doing ok. Our tank is fairly cool, about 18*C: is a heater necessary? I will also treat with water conditioner after a nearly complete water change tomorrow, just wondering why the yellow ones are dying but no others. Any advice would be appreciated.
Aside from the tank being a bit too cold for them, it’s hard to say why they’re dying. Random fish dying soon after purchase happens to the best of us, and many fish are stressed out from being transported and their experience in the pet store. It’s likely they were already sick when you got them, if there is nothing obviously wrong. And when the temperature is low, it makes it harder for them to fight off infections. I’d raise the temp and be very careful about the tank you take the next ones from; Make sure there are no sick fish or anything else wrong with it.
Hi,
We have a 20 gallon long tank with two platys, 3 glofish, 9 neons, 4 cherry barbs and a pleco. To our great surprise we discovered one baby platy last week! Now we are wondering how that ONE baby survived and what we should be prepared for in the future? How do we know when the female platy is ready to give birth? Do we need to isolate the parents or the babies or just let nature take it’s course?
Thanks so much for any advice!
It’s really up to you with what you want to do with pregnant platies.In a tank that small, you might not want promote too many surviving, because it will quickly become overcrowded. And often in a community tank, you’ll discover a few little intrepid babies that manage to survive. Live plants really help, especially floating ones with roots, or dense ones like Java moss.
If you want more to survive, then you can rehome a female platy to a tank alone, where she will give birth. You can then remove her after she has given birth. Alternatively, you can wait until she’s very large with fry and then place her in a breeding net. Either of those will give you many fry to raise – assuming you get the mother out before she eats them.
I have three male platys and one platy whose sex is impossible to determine. They’re in a fairly new 20 gallon tank, and have been there for about two weeks, but in the past few days the largest has become very aggressive. He chases the others around the tank until they are cowering in the corners. I have a small tank (~3 gallons) that I set up, cycled, and put the aggressor in. Since platys are a social fish, I feel awful about keeping him by himself in such a small tank. What do you recommend? Keeping him isolated doesn’t feel right, but I also don’t want him bullying my others to death.
Luckily, this is pretty common behavior and is easy to deal with. In your main tank, you need to divide it up into ‘areas’. This can be done through ornaments, live plants, or fake plants. The idea is to create separate areas in the tank where the fish can’t see each other. A fish will rarely continue pursuit when it loses sight of the other fish, and the aggressive fish will normally stay in his own little area. I’ve found this works well for many species and it should help to reduce the aggression in your tank.
What type of platy is most recomended? Plaese Help! Thanks!
With platies, you’re pretty safe choosing whatever species you like best, though I’ve heard it’s best to stay away from the hifin and pintail since they’re a little inbred. But beyond those two variants, platies tend to be hardy regardless of the colour variant. I personally prefer wagtail since they’re so iconic, but just go with whatever colour you like best. I quite like the rainbow platies as well.
So my female had her fry, but is it possible for her not to release all of the babies? The reason I ask is she died less than a week from when she gave birth. And now her male is acting like he might die. I’m so upset. What do you think happened?
Teri
Sorry for the delay in getting back, but was the fish bloated before she died? Is that why you think she retained some babies?
Hello I had a similar experience and my Platy turned out to be bloated.
I have to agree. It does sound like bloat.
Hello thank you for the useful information.. i am planning to get two platys today for my kids and I to take care of , however it will be a first time for us what do you think we should get? Two male platys ? Or two female platys? Or maybe 2 female ones and one male to watch them breed?? We are very excited but i am worried i fail at keeping them alive.
How large is the tank? They breed really fast, so you might want to get just two females – if they’re in a female only tank. Otherwise, they’ll be pregnant when you buy them and you’ll eventually have a population explosion. Females would be better than males since they also fight less.
If you’re really new to fishkeeping, I’d recommend reading the following articles to start:
What to Feed Aquarium Fish – https://aquariumtidings.com/how-much-and-what-to-feed-aquarium-fish/
How to Keep Your Aquarium Clean – https://aquariumtidings.com/how-to-clean-an-aquarium-everything-you-need-to-know-to-keep-your-aquarium-clean/
How to Cycle and Aquarium – https://aquariumtidings.com/aquarium-cycling-the-complete-guide-to-cycling-a-fish-tank/
I have a question on a different fish. Does anyone know how to tell the males from females in Orange Pleco’s?
Hi, we have bought 4 male platy about 3 weeks ago for our Son who is 5, for his first pets! However we have noticed 1 seems to be hiding under an ornament a lot and seems to be chased by 2 of the others and a lot and they seem to be on the attacked – is this nomal or iam i over reacting??!
Thanks in advance
Becky
It’s pretty common when you have a few males together. Just make sure he has lots of hiding places and watch to make sure he’s getting food. Bullied fish often get sick because they aren’t allowed to feed by the dominant fish.
I just bought a pair of orange colored platy
And I don’t know whicb one is a female
But one of the fish is so weak i think
It just goes down the bottom and stays there completely on one side
I think it going to die
Also to notify you it had turned to a dark color
Does it have a fat belly like it’s bloated? The first thing to try is to feed it lightly boiled shelled peas. If it’s a swim bladder problem, that will fix it. If it’s bloat, a common illness, then the fish is probably going to die. But you can try antibiotic foods.
Let me know how the peas go first.
Hey guys
My platy 🚺fishes are almost 1inch
Are they able to breed
If they have a good diet and living conditions, they should start to breed around that size. Just make sure to keep the aquarium as clean as possible and offer them live or frozen food to help trigger breeding.
I have six platies in a 10 gallon tank. Five bumblebees and a painted. I never see the males following, let alone mating, a female. Why aren’t they interested in breeding? The painted platy is still a virgin.
How old are the platy fish? The only reason they wouldn’t be mating is that they’re too young. Otherwise, they’re probably mating when you’re not around.
I have 3 males and 2 females and one of my females is already pregnant. They are all in a 10 gallon tank. What should i do with my pregnant female? How many fry do the have at the time?
If you want some of the fry to survive, then you need to separate the female from the other fish. If you can wait until close to birth, then a breeding net should work until all the fry have been born, and then the female should be removed. A tank divider would also work, but might make things a bit crowded in a 10 gallon. The best option is to provide a full cycled breeding tank, but that’s not an option for most people.
As for the fry, they usually have some where between 20-50 fry, though a lot depends on age and conditions.
I had that problem when I first started raising Platys. I have become very successful with my surviving Fries. I do not separate my pregnant Platy because she just gets stress with the chase and aborts too soon and the fries do not survive. I have had a LOT of success by buying Live plants. I put a mass majority on one section of my tank with a few on the bottom in the gravel. Then I It a lot more on top of the water, just floating. When I see my pregnant Platy hiding I know she is about to give birth. Once the fries are born I go ’Fishing’ because the fry usually stay up top.I scoop them out and put them in Nursery until they are too big to be eaten. Of course you will not catch all of them.
Help! My plateies are dying. They are getting like a hunch back & then dying. What is happening?
It could be fish tuberculosis. Do they have any other symptoms such as scale loss or red sores? If it is tuberculosis, then you need to be very careful. It can be transmitted to humans and is a truly nasty infection. Whatever you do, don’t put your hand in the aquarium water, especially if you have open cuts or sores. Always use gloves and sterilize them afterwards with a bleach and water solution. Any infected fish should be quarantined and treated with a strong antibiotic. If all the fish are infected, and they pass away, the aquarium should be broken down and sterilized.
However, this is assuming the fish actually have tuberculosis. Bent spines can happen for many reasons and they may be dying from something completely unrelated. Before you panic, you should check the water, and see if there are any other problems. Is there any fish aggression? What are they eating? But I’d be very careful touching that water until you figure out what is wrong with the fish.
I have just bought a 25l tank (about 6gal) for my little girl and recommended Platys as nice easy fish. I have been told I can keep up to 10 platys or a mix with shrimp or corydoras, but no more than 10 bodies! I really don’t want babies but from reading comments all males could cause fighting (the 2 I currently have are starting to bicker), yet if I get any females they are likely to be pregnant! Help, what is best for a beginner with no interest in breeding/raising fry.
Sorry for the slow response, but not many fish will be happy in a 25 litre tank. One options is handful of male guppies, as they won’t excessively fight like male platies. Another idea is a betta which is a very attractive fish, but you could only fit one as they would fight with each other. Small tetras may also work but it can be very difficult to keep them in small tanks. Dwarf puffers are another fish that will thrive in small tanks, but they can be very difficult to keep. My suggestion is male guppies are probably easiest.
i was given platy fish they had 10 fry about 5 months ago havent had fry seance. i have two females and one mail . currently in the tank
Hi I think I have a pregnant platy but i work too much to be home to try to separate the fry. Would it be ok to put her in a different tank until she gives birth?
The best thing to do is to purchase a breeding net to use in your tank. The problem with a separate tank is that it has to be fully cycled for the mother and the fry. And cycling a tank properly takes weeks, so unless you have one setup and running right now, it could be a problem. But a breeding net helps to separate the babies while not needing a different tank. That would be my recommendation.
I have a rainbow shark. Will Platys get bullied by it?