All female Platies???

Fisherofmen

Is it safe to have just female platies and no males? I love platies, but I dont want fry. What if I had a community of all male platies. Would they get along?
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ChrisPaul2491

From one Molly/Platty keeper to another, I honestly see no harm in keeping same sex plattys together without any males. They're basically peaceful fish. You just want to be sure that when you purchase them, that they aren't already pregnant. Most pet/fish supply stores house the males and females together.

BarbH

You will be fine with keeping all female platys. As mentioned males and females are kept together in store tanks, so the possiblility of the Platy being pregnant already. If you leave the females in the main tank to give birth, you will more than likely only have a few survivors, it any. It all depends on how many hiding spots the fry have. In my community tank fry do not survive, although I have more than just platys in there. Also the female can store the sperm of a male for up to 6 months.

ChrisPaul2491

My fry also don't survive in my tank.

1077

When I kept live bearer's, I found that placing LOT"S of artificial floating plant's, or live floating plant's, would increase fry survival rates with these fish.
Fry from these fish are instinctively drawn to the surface to feed on plant matter,algae,and critter's found on plant material.
Hiding area's such as caves or rocks may be used but are not natural to them. Females may use such area's when being hounded by males or just before birthing, but floating cover or large planted area's are where the majority of the fishes sought/seek shelter and food.
Sure some fry were eaten by other fishes,but with floating cover,, many survived.
Diet of algae based foods or vegetable based foods are much better for these fish than foods rich in animal proteins which should be offered maybe once a week.
Spirulina flake,Omega One veggie flakes,produced the best result's with respect to growth and health of developing fry.
Just my two cent's.

stevenjohn21

I would do the opposite to what the above has said if you are not wanting fry. Ive had male & female live together and was worried that i would be swamped with fry but as long as there are no floating plants for them to hide your survival rate will be slim. I also have a HOB filter so if the fry dont get eaten they will get sucked up by the filter intake . . . .i have yet to see fry in that tank yet

Fisherofmen

Thank you for the answers. I have one male and three females. I don't like the idea of fry being eaten in my aquarium. I may find another home for my male in the future.
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