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got some new platies?

6K views 22 replies 5 participants last post by  blueblue48 
#1 ·
i have 4 new platies i bought, the guy who sold them really couldnt sex them since you catch whatever you can get from the tank, i roughly know how to sex these fish. do the males have a little tube there and the females have a fanned out anal fin? if so i have 2 females and 2 males in a 10 gallon tank. im wondering if thats a good amount and if i sexed them right. im really really hoping for babies soon! by the way there micky mouse platies because of the three small dots at the start of there tail fin.
 
#3 ·
i found a picture on google hope it helps
you sould have no probs breeding platies:D
Sexing:
There are many ways to sex a Platy (these sexing methods, by the way, can be applied to all livebearers), but there are two that are more widely used than others. The first method is to observe the shape of the Platy, Females will be longer, and also have wider stomachs (even when not pregnant) than males. The second method (and most accurate) involves observing the three fins on the underbelly of the fish. Female Platy's will have three almost identical fins, two a little further up the belly (closer to the front) than the rear, and with a male, the two frontal fins will be the same, but the aft fin will be much smaller, and pointed.
 
#5 ·
If breeding is what you have in mind, I agree with eddie, NOW is the time to start planning another tank. The average breeding cycle for platys (and other live bearers) is 30 - 50 fry up to every 30 days. The fry grow fast, and WILL inbreed if not seperated as soon as possible once you can tell the difference.

Something else I would be concerned about is the number of females vs males in your tank. A healthy livebearer tank will have 2 females for each male... because their favorite thing to do is breed. With 2 of each, the males have nobody else to chase while these 2 females are allowed to rest. Often times pairing livebearers will result in only male fish surviving in the tank. considering your tank size, you might want to consider returning 1 of the males.

Also, if the females came from a tank with mixed male/female fish at the store, then the females are already likely pregnant if they are mature enough to breed. I'd say watch for babies to start showing up at any time, even if the females don't appear to be pregnant at the moment. Healthy female livebearers (mixed with healthy males) will be pregnant almost all the time.
 
#7 ·
I don't want to be insulting, but what makes the ratio needs different in your situation? In a 10 gallon tank, the 2 females per male is going to be even more important because the females will have a lot less space to get away from the males.
 
#9 ·
Even with caves, which I would expect there to be hiding places of some kind, will not prevent the males from chasing the females if each only has 1 to chase. If one of those 2 females goes into hiding somewhere effective, that means the other female is left with 2 males chasing her. Either way you look at it, in a 10 gallon tank, that's not a good ratio.
 
#13 ·
blueblue48 said:
plus i red that you can breed swordtails and platies? if thats true then i can have some different wierd fish
Yes, they can. The resulting fry is called Variegated Platy (Xiphophorus variatus).
 
#14 ·
cool on the wierd type of platies, not cool that one of the female platies just died!!! shed been acting wierd for awhile and i still dont know why, the fish store said she might have had some difficulties with her baby fish inside her? anyways i went and got 2 mickey mouse platies the day after so the remaining female wouldnt be harrassed. there a little larger then the others and are a darker tone so if i breed these new redish ones with my older yellow ones hopefully ill get a nice orange? ill get a pic soon, plus they were a dollar cheaper!
 
#15 ·
YAY, i looked a little closer at one of the new platies and shes definatly pregnant, first off from the front and back her belly pops out alot more then any of the other male or female, and from the side her belly drops down and she looks like a fat little momma fish. im happy now.
 
#16 ·
You will see variegated platies in your lfs.:wink2: They are very common and are mainly labelled as 'Sunset Variatus', etc. Most of the time, the platies you get are crosses of platies and swords.:shake: I'd hate to see the pure platies declining with variegated ones taking over.
 
#18 ·
Color mixing of fish via breeding isn't quite that simple. When breeding for color, it is difficult, and cannot be "controlled" completely. This involves understanding the genes and dna structure of the fish. Just as brown hair in people can't be achieved by mixing 1 person with blonde hair and one with black hair. You must first determine "dominant" traits, then you must know what the various generations of that particular fish carry for dominant traits and other genes. As with people, if grandpa has blonde hair and grandma has black hair... mom may come out with either black or blonde, and the grandkids 2 generations may produce blonde children, even if those particular parents both have black hair. It's complicated, but there are many books on the market to help you break it down.

The other thing to consider with breeding for specific traits or color strains, especially in livebearers, is that their body is able to retain the sperm to allow for multiple spawns, even if only the female is present. To know that your female fish is not still producing spawns from prior breeding, that fish would have to be isolated from all males for up to 1 yr before you could expect to get a somewhat true strain, and then it would be paired with a single male. If that female was needed to produce spawns with a 2nd male, it would take another 6 months - 1 yr to be sure she has finished producing spawns from the first male.
 
#19 ·
wow complicated, i guess ill just let there color be there color! and i was thinking about that retaining sperm thing and maybe i could just leave the females in there to have kids and put the males in my community tank that way the females dont get hassled as much?
 
#20 ·
blueblue48 said:
wow complicated, i guess ill just let there color be there color! and i was thinking about that retaining sperm thing and maybe i could just leave the females in there to have kids and put the males in my community tank that way the females dont get hassled as much?
The fry as they grow will need to be monitored. By the time they reach 3 months, their sexes can be distinguished. Separate the males and females. Even siblings can mate and reproduce causing a production of inferior quality of fry.
 
#21 ·
Blue said:
blueblue48 said:
wow complicated, i guess ill just let there color be there color! and i was thinking about that retaining sperm thing and maybe i could just leave the females in there to have kids and put the males in my community tank that way the females dont get hassled as much?
The fry as they grow will need to be monitored. By the time they reach 3 months, their sexes can be distinguished. Separate the males and females. Even siblings can mate and reproduce causing a production of inferior quality of fry.
ok i got it all figured out heres the plan. im going to see how the fry turn out this time just leaving them in the same tank with the adults, and i know theyll get eaten. by the next month after when there will be more pregnancies i will have had a 20-29 gallon setup for a small clown knife fish i want to get. ill have the oopen 10 gallon and maybe but another cause there really cheap(like 30 bucks and then i have to buy a heater) thats for seperating the fish. and if anyone doesnt like it hold me on this one but maybe use some of the many extra platies for feeder fish? just tell me if you think its wrong or i shouldnt because i know eventually ill have nowhere near the room for all the small fishies! now i might change the plan to making them not feeder fish if the petstore will buy them from me since its locally owned.
 
#22 ·
You can use the platies as feeder fish, of course.:) Just make sure they are in healthy condition when feeding them to your predators. I can't stand doing this at times. I have a soft spot for fish.:sob:
 
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