Full Guide for Keeping Platy (live bear)
- Jul 06, 2020
- Anshika Mishra
- 2482 0 0
Platy fish is one of the gorgeous fish in the aquarium hobby. These fishes are the best fishes to start within the aquarium hobby. Even people who have years of experience in fish keeping, find Platy one of the most fascinating tiny fish in their aquarium.
Platy Fish are Adaptive Fish
Platies are extremely adaptable fish. They have a wide-scale of tolerance when it comes to water parameters.
- pH: 6-8.5; This is a vast range, that makes them compatible in most environments. People from all around the world can keep platies fish.
- TEMPERATURE: 70-82; When it comes to temperature, it is the same wide range in which these tiny creatures can thrive. Again that is a vast range for a tropical fish. Whether you try to keep them with Ram fish or whether you are trying to keep them with White Cloud fish, they are very accommodating.
- Platies do great with live plants.
- LIVE BEARS: This means that they give birth to live fish. Dense live plants help the baby fry a place to hide to prevent them from being eaten by any other fish.
- SMALL: Fully grown platies only get 3-4 inches
Water Hardness for Platy Fish
When it comes to water hardness, there are some other parameters that matter. They prefer harder water, but they still do well in soft water. So, get a little bit of crushed coral in there or a little bit of wonder shell for equilibrium. Something that adds some calcium, if you already have water hardness form your local tap water.
Variety of Platy Fish
The great part about Platy fish is that you can keep them as a solo fish, you can keep them as a group. You can breed them. You can do all kinds of things. There are dozens of different colors and variety which include
- Blue Platy
- Red Platy
- Yellow Platy
- Coral blue platy
- Ninja platy
- Plume rain platy where the tail comes out very large
- Long-fin platy
- Short-fin platy
- Ballon platy
There are all kinds of different variables to choose from. The good news is all of them can be kept together, and they all have the same care requirements. So, you get to point and shoot like "Oh! I like this one. I like that one".
One of the most beautiful variants of Platy available in the market is The Hi Fin Platy.
The Hi Fin Platy
- They have a big fin in a sunset color.
- They are yellowy-orange with comparably bigger fin than then rest of the platies.
- They are beautiful fish to look at the tank.
Platy Fish Male-Female Ratio
The only recommendation is that you should try to keep them in such a way that you have two females for every single male in the tank. This ratio will remain the male's aggression down if you keep a 2:1 rate. Because there are more females, it will reduce the stress levels of females if you are going to have just one boy and one girl. The boy is going to annoy her non-stop, and that can lead to a very stressful situation.
You can go for a group of all girls or all males and eventually they are probably already going to be pregnant. When you buy at the store, and you will probably get some male growing up in the tank, and that is fine too.
How to Tell Male's and Female Platy Fish
When it comes to determining the sex of PLaty fish
- The Male has reproductive organs call a gang podium. It looks like a little stick like a thing that used to get pregnant to females.
- The Female on their anal fin will have a kind of V normal shape fin, like a bottom fin on a fish.
That's the way you can tell what sex your Platy fish are. Most Local Fish Store (LFS) should be able to tell males and females apart for you. If you are still not able to tell the difference between them, then do a little research, and you'll be a champ at identifying the two genders.
Breeding Platy Fish
Platies are live bears. They give birth to live fish. The female carries around the babies, and then one day they come out. You might want to do a few preventive measurements there, like get lots of live plants or at least a lot of cover in the tank with fake plants.
Make sure that the intake of your filter (if you are not using a sponge filter) is covered up. You can use a net. Well, it would be better if you just use the sponge filter; that way, the babies don't get sucked on the filter.
Managing Baby Platy Fish
Now you got the Platy fish home. You have a great plant tank, with a filter going, you also have other fish in there because you like to keep a lot of different types of fish. They are eventually going to give birth. They give birth in about every 30 days or so.
How not to keep Platy babies
They are probably going to have about 30 to 40 babies. The babies might be get eaten by other fish or frogs. Maybe you didn't have the filter covered.
This happens every month or so. If you have other fish in there that would-be predators, they will eat the babies providing a lot of food for them. This is what happens in nature when there is no food. Big fish eats the small one, and thus the population in water is maintained.
Keeping Babies Platy Fish
You might want to raise a few of Platy fish, and that could be fun, you get kids involved. When you decide to raise one of the spawns, try to feed more and do more water changes. If you keep breading them, you can unload the extra Platy at your Local Fish Store (some will buy them, and some will provide a store credit) or sell them online, but it could take longer to get rid of them.
Why are Platies so good?
In general, think they are all the good problems, they will fill your tank, they are colorful, they live with your plants like these are all wonderful things, that is what makes Platies such a great fish to own.
The recommendation is, if you have never kept Platies before, seriously make a Platy tank, you will enjoy it. There is a reason that Platy are very popular because people have success with them; they love them. You get that 3-4 inch fish that is full of color and relatively laid back. Not as aggressive as Swordtail, it would surely be a fun fish, and you would enjoy looking at them.
Good luck with your majestic Platies!
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