Ho do you breed platies and care for fry?

Question

I have kept fish for many years and now i am starting a tropical tank again, i decided on platies (which i don't have much experience on). I have only 2 so far in my 28 gallon tank, and i cant tell if their male or female. should i buy more platies? and how should i breed them and care for fry? If you can, please provide me with some websites too.

Answer 1

That is one reason I chose guppies, they are livebearers too, but you can tell the difference. LOL!! I had platies too and couldn't tell who was having babies. Once I found out it was okay, and my wife stopped laughing at me.Your best bet is to do research on platys or buy a few more and hope for the best. You will be able to pick out the female for sure once she does get pregnant. Once you think you have a female, I would get a breeder net or trap. You can purchase them at petsmart or petco. When you think she is about to drop, usually 28-30 days, put her in the breeder net. Try finding one with a seperate area for the fry. You can feed the fry crushed flake food or brine shrimp. Good luck

Answer 2

To tell whether the platy is a male or female, you look at the bottom fin. If it is a fan shape then it is a female. If it is pin shaped it is a male. You need to have 2 females for every 1 male. The pregnancy lasts for about 28 days. You should get a breeder tank that you can get from the pet store for about $7 or less. You put the female in there to give birth. The fry will fall to the bottom and will have a better chance or surviving. Only put her in there when she is squared off. That means the area by her gravid spot (black spot near fan fin) is squarish looking. That means she is ready to give birth. That is the time to put her in the breeder tank. Leave her in there over night because she might not have all of the fry at once. In the morning if she is done (she will look A LOT skinnier and won't be squared off) then you need to carefully remove her. You need to feed the fry 3-4 times a day. That way they will get all the nutrients they need to start growing. When they are bigger than the adults mouths then you can release them into the tank. That will be around 1 month-1 1/2 months. Make sure you have a lot of plants for them to hide in though. They will feel safer with plants and hiding places. Once they are 3 weeks old you can start feeding them 2 times a day like the adults.

Good Luck!!!!

Answer 3

Platys breed like crazy when you have males and females in the same tank. The males have a very noticeable anal fin. I have a 40 gallon tank with 10 male platys and 20 female platys and they are the females are having fry every two weeks or so. Make sure you get plenty of breeding grass and plants for your fry to hide in if you do start breeding. The platy adults will eat up all the fry if they see them. The great thing about platys is there are so many varieties. I have blue platys, mickey mouse, red wag, red, gold, etc. They make a beautiful tank.  Try fishlore.com for more info on platys. Good luck!!

Answer 4

Platies are extremely easy breeders. Even in poor water quality, they will tend to breed, though you won't have real healthy fry if your water quality isn't great.

The males have a pointed anal fin (the one closest to their tail), and the females have a rounded anal fin. They are pretty easy to tell apart when you've got one of each.

You'll want one male per 3 females, in order to keep the females from being overly harrassed by the male.

The females can have babies about every 30 days (give or take a few days), as long as the water is half decent, and there are not too many fish present.

Be aware that you will quickly be over-run with platy fry if you raise them separately. Mostly with my livebearers, I will just provide a lot of plant cover (java moss, java ferns, hornwort, etc) in the tank - the strong ones survive, and the weak ones don't, but it keeps the population in check a little bit better.

Good luck either way though.