I was thinking about getting a couple of Platys but didn't want to deal with swarms of fry. In my reading online it seems that some people think they should be kept in groups of three. Are they shoaling, or is that the "at least 2 females per male" rule?
I think its more of a male to female ratio. Consider that even if you only get females that if they are not kept separate at the fish store they will most likely be pregnant when you get them.
If you get nothing but females and any of the fry from each drop survive, you will have hundreds of fry in 6 months time. Each of the females can carry viable sperm packets for about 6 months so you will start with a few survivors from each one's first drop. The second drop for each one will see more survivors because the adult fish will be accustomed to seeing smaller fish and will chase the new fry less, the third drop, still less than 3 months in your tank, will have even more survivors. Each drop by each female will number between 30 and 50 fry and as the survival ratio goes up the fry count can get really ridiculous. If you only want 2 platies in the tank and never want to see more, get 2 males and no females.
I noticed the same trend too. My females' very first drop had only 4 survivors which I had to separate. As time went on, I didn't separate fry any more and they seem to survive well.
2 males are a better option indeed. Even for swordtails. I once had two males. Initially there was some aggression but because they had a lot of space, they learned to coexist. A little non-persistent chasing here and there but in safe levels. I had to remove one of them though because he began picking on the other non-swordtail tankmates.
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