Platy In Cold Water

[thomas10051988]

hi i am currently keeping 3 platies in a 10 gal unheated tank in the hope of breeding will they breed in cold water

 

[omega59]

you should buy a heater they require a temp of 75-80F (26C). I don't think they will breed in cold water they are not cold water fish.

 

[5teady_2012]

Temperature can be anywhere from 24-28°C.

They will still breed in colder temperatures but not sure when it come to really low temperatures, what is your temp in your tank?

 

[fourthtimelucky]

I saw platies being sold at P@H with a big sign on the tank saying "We can live in cold water!!!"

Wonder how many people dumped them in a pond.... poor platies.

Even if they can cope with cooler water than some tropicals I don't think it's a great idea to put them in an unheated tank especially when you consider how cheap a little heater is, the temperature swings at night etc can't be good for them.

I shouldn't think platies need cold water or any other romantic settings to encourage them to breed... aren't they more the wham bam type?

 

[tetra king]

hi i am currently keeping 3 platies in a 10 gal unheated tank in the hope of breeding will they breed in cold water

you shold buy a heater for them to breed good fry. how many females have you got because you need to have more females than males when you are trying to breed platies, i have them myself nice fish but i have got a heater so they keep their colur and they stay alive longer. so take my advise and buy a heater they are only about 10 to 20 pounds depending on the size.

thanks

ben

 

[thomas10051988]

thanks for everyones advice just bought a heater gunna put in in later

 

[crazyaussie]

good buy a heater how could you even think of putting any tropical fish in a tank without a heater in the first place how mean and horrible can u be

 

[boardy]

good buy a heater how could you even think of putting any tropical fish in a tank without a heater in the first place how mean and horrible can u be

We all made mistakes somewhere, lets just hope damage hasn't been done already and be civil.

I keep my male Platy is in my community tank which is sitting at a constant 26c, I have 2 Platy fry in the fry tank which is also at 26c.

Hope this gives you an idea.

Adam

 

[dunchp]

Sorry to dispute this guys, especially as I am obviously a very lone voice.

When you say 'cold' water I am assuming that you are not referring to ponds but rather an unheated tank in a centrally heated house.

Cultivated (common) platies come from two wild species; Xiphophorus variatus and Xiphophorus maculatus; The variatus strains are more pointed and the maculatus strains are more moon shaped.

Xiphophorus maculatus comes from the South of Mexico and surrounding countries and requires warmer water, they seem to really struggle at below 18 degrees C; however Xiphophorus variatus comes from the North of Mexico and can cope with cooler temperatures. Also, an element of variation in temperature is good for your fish, don't get too fussy about it but I vary temperature from Summer to Winter and also during the day. I have a space heated fish house so that is easier to do and in the winter, many tanks get down to as low as 13-16 degrees C and most of my livebearers, including many species of platy do OK at this temperature.

In the event that you do wish to keep livebearers in unheated aquaria, can I suggest you get hold of some of the Goodeids or some of the platies and swords such as Xiphophorus malinche and Xiphophorus evelynae which can cope with lower temperatures and actually struggle above 22 degrees.

Finally, in the summer in the UK, alot of livebearers do great in outdoor ponds, this would include variatus platies. If you don't believe me, give it a go from early April until the beginning of September.

 

[Butch]

That platies you see in stores that likes cold water, it must be Variatus platies. And they can handle cooler water but not freezing water. Variatus are my favorite livebearers because they are striking colors and they do well in tubs outside. There is cold tolerant gambusia strain but they are not so colorful and too aggressive. Some livebearers can do well in unheated tanks such as western gambusia, heterandria formosa and few xiphophorus species (not green swordtails and southern platy). Go with dunchp's advice.

 

[crazyaussie]

most platy sould be in 26 degrees because that is the ideal temp for them never put them under 18

 

[LauraFrog]

I live in the tropics (far northern Australia) and my platies live in unheated tanks which remain at about 24 degrees in summer. This can drop as low as 20 degrees on a winter night.

 

[dunchp]

My advice for newbies is to follow the advice that is put here as I do not think newbies have the experience to spot early signs of disease, or to spot early signs of distress in fish etc etc so you should increase your chances by keeping the fish to the warmer end of the scale.

However, with a bit of experience, you start to realise that you can push the boundaries a little and we all know that one of the problems with fishkeeping is that the tanks breed almost as fast as the fish. I have well over 100 now and I would not be able to have that many if I needed a heater for each one.

Some fish are able to withstand cooler temperatures and I believe that this is actually good for the fish because it creates a period where the fish do not breed and they seem to rest and recouperate and come back far stronger when the temperatures rise.

That said it is important to know what your fish can withstand. Through experience I have learned which fish can and which fish cannot withstand low temperatures, but if your experience is different, stick with your own advice. But it is important to know that there is another way, even if you choose to ignore it.

In some wild species e.g. the Skiffias, too high a temperatures may cause infertility and even in cultivated stock it can lead to short life spans.

One thing to remember is we are talking about temperate species, not cold water species. Xiphophorus evelynae has been reported to overwinter outside, but I do not believe it and there is a new type of hybrid Gambusia which is also supposed to be the same, but I wouldn't try it myself.

Even in the wild, there are some pretty cold habitats in the warmer countries. In Mexico for instance, although the country is quite hot, there are fish which come from higher altitude in the mountains and these fish get cold conditions; whilst in other cooler areas, there are fish which live in warm spring fed rivers which need warmer, stable conditions all the time.

 

[dilbert]

Only to emphasize what someone has already mentioned:

At least from reptiles I know that an always constant temperature exactly to the degree is often bad. Generally, animals held day and night, winter and summer, exactly at the same temperature don't live that long as those with some variation.

As I read that 18°C should be the minimum temperature for "the" platy, I adjusted the heater's thermostat to 19°C and now they have been without heater between 23°C and 27°C due to filter pumps and lamps plus hood. (Such sort of temperature change is slow what is important, too. Another point is that air temperatures shouldn't be constantly lower than water temperatures. A hood is helpful here.)

In summer it gets generally somewhat cooler in the house as heating is switched off more often but I doubt that temparature will fall below 20°C.

If interested you can lookup weather Web sites like www.wunderground.com and look at the actual temperature and the weekly weather forecast. Rivers and lakes hold normally an average temperature between day and night in the long run and don't spike at short cold spells. (Cold spells are always short in the tropics.)

Coatzacoalcos for example is a harbour in plain platy land.

Coatzacoalcos, Mexico

 

[bugman2494]

According to my experiences, they are temperate temperate fish which can handle temperatures of 15C. I onced lived in Queensland, Australia. This is a subtropical state where outside temperature stays at 25 C constantly. I kept my livebearers in ponds (swordtail, guppies, platies, mollies and mosquito fish) They thrived in the pond,. producing about 50 babies a week. At the end of the season, without using the ugly babies as oscar food, I would probably have a million in my pond.