Platy fish is one of the member of live bearers family. Members of live bearers give birth directly to live babies. Due to this feature these fishes are extremely popular in case of breeding in home aquarium. This family include about hundreds of fishes. Which contain the very famous aquarium fishes like molly, guppy and sword tails. Most of them require less care. Due to cross breeding these are available in various colors making them very beautiful and one of the common fish in aquarium. Distinguishing between male and female platy fish is also a easy task you can just tell by looking at their anal fin. Male's anal fin is pointed while female's fin is like shape of fan.
Platy fish are peaceful and can help in forming beautiful community aquarium with other peaceful fishes such as sword tails , mollies, angelfish, gouramis , plecos tetras such as black skirt tetra etc.
Tank Size: 5 gallons or more
Platy fish are peaceful and can help in forming beautiful community aquarium with other peaceful fishes such as sword tails , mollies, angelfish, gouramis , plecos tetras such as black skirt tetra etc.
These are excellent choice for beginners as they are hardy , robust and demands less care. They can with stand fluctuation as compared to other fishes against nitrite, nitrate levels. The one more feature for their popularity is that they are very easy to breed. Sometimes you do not need to do anything they breed on their on just proper conditions are maintained. Platy fish generally grow up to size of 2 inches and have lifespan of about 2-3 years in captivity. They are omnivorous and can feed on almost anything however you should provide them balanced diet. Provide them hiding spots in case other fishes chase them. Also puts lots of aquarium plants which help in reduction of stress. Platy fish can easily thrive in small tanks.
Tank Size: 5 gallons or more
Temperature: 24 to 28 degrees Celsius
Diet: Omnivorous
Breeding: Live bearers , quite easy
Lifespan: 2-3 years
Size : 2-3 inches
pH: 6-8
care : easy
Difference between male and female platy fish
Difference between male and female platy fish
For healthy breeding it is important to choose appropriate numbers of females and males. Other wise your platy may get stressed out and may not result in breeding. Here also it is important because if female fish got stressed then she may result in premature birth of babies. To find difference between male and female platy fish is easy task. Generally male platy are aggressive and they like to chase females. That's why you should put 2-3 females per male. Another difference is , female bodies are rounder and while male platy are slander in shape. The most key feature to distinguishing them is looking at their anal fin. Male's anal fin is well developed and look like thin stick known as gonapodium. It is used to transfer sperms to female platy. While female fin looks like fan. This is the most common difference used to distinguishing. However it is more confusing while fishes are swimming because then even females fin looks like Male's. Look at them when they are idle. The above one is male while the below one is female.
Platy fish breeding
You may also opt for breeding net.Breeding net is cube like structure in which you can put babies. Then breeding net is attached to wall of aquarium. Also you can buy breeding box it is more advanced version of breeding net. In breeding box their are separate compartment for fish and fry both are attached. You can put the pregnant mother in box then she gives birth to babies the babies will pass to other compartment through small spaces.
You can also grow platy fries in same breeding aquarium provided that your aquarium should have lots and lots of hiding places ,big marbles chips, large gravels, dense plants ,floating plants. So that babies keep reach out of adult fishes. However it is risky and only few platy fry will survive.
Platy fish are very easy to bred. Platy fish are live bearers and they give directly birth to young fries. Also they are not demanding in aquarium and are extremely easy to bred in captivity. You just need to maintain the right condition rest leave on your fishes. Sometimes female platy fish are already pregnant in the aquarium dealer shop then people's buy them and all of a sudden they found small babies swimming their aquarium. At that time people got tensed as they are not prepared. In this case they should simply put the other fishes even their parents to other tank as they will eat they babies.
For proper and planned breeding you will need healthy and adult platy fish pairs. The ratio of male and female must be 2-3 females per male other wise she will get stress and may die. Provide lots of hiding places for females and also live or artificial aquarium plants. The pregnancy period of females is of about 4-5 weeks.
Provide food rich in protein especially live food. Maintain the temperature of tank in between 24-28 degrees Celsius. The tank size must be 10 gallons or more. The female platy fish will get thicker and thicker as the birth time will come near. You can observe slightly change in female's nature as the time arrive of birth. The belly will look like square shape or this \____/. She may also have black spot above the anal fin known as gravid spot.
Then female will give birth to 30 -50 live babies. This may take about 2 hours. While she is giving birth to babies their is not any threat from her. But when she finishes it then she may eat fries. So remove the female and other fishes from the tank.You can also use other tank or aquarium as fry aquarium and put pregnant female into it before few days of birth. Remember tank is well cycled before use.
You may also opt for breeding net.Breeding net is cube like structure in which you can put babies. Then breeding net is attached to wall of aquarium. Also you can buy breeding box it is more advanced version of breeding net. In breeding box their are separate compartment for fish and fry both are attached. You can put the pregnant mother in box then she gives birth to babies the babies will pass to other compartment through small spaces.
You can also grow platy fries in same breeding aquarium provided that your aquarium should have lots and lots of hiding places ,big marbles chips, large gravels, dense plants ,floating plants. So that babies keep reach out of adult fishes. However it is risky and only few platy fry will survive.
Platy fish fry care
Change 10% water in 3-4 days. You can give them normal fish food after crushing into powder then forming paste. Feed them 4-5 time a day. Don't overfeed them also remove the remaining food as it may pollute the water. Switch off the filter other wise fry may get suck and die. Feed them baby brine shrimps. Don't disturb the babies. Also don't move babies from one place to another as they may get shock and die due to change in temperature and pH levels. Try to maintain the same conditions of temperature and pH. Avoid sucking of babies by any such equipment. If any fry die remove it.