Advice For Platys

[Kemics]

At the moment i have a coldwater tank, with a few comet goldfish and some platys. The tank is running at 20c, i was told by the shop where i bought the platys that while they are normally a tropical fish, he had weened them onto coldwater by turn the tank temp down over a period of time.

I've recently upgraded tank and it looks a bit empty with so few fish in, a friend of mine is giving away platys, if i set my old tank up with the heater that came with the new tank, could i convert these new platys to coldwater and how complicated/potentially dangerous for this fish is this process?

The other question i have is that while i have a good mix of males and females platys, they havn't bred. Is this something to do with the fact they are in coldwater or could they have been breeding and the comets eating the young'uns

Many thanks! any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[fish48]

Yes you can convert platys down to 20c with no problem your platys have been breeding your comets are probably eating the fry. Gestatation will be every 6 weeks + it is best to keep them at about 26c

 

[Jazzzz]

comets are pond fish i thought so will outgrow most tanks what size is it.

 

[Kemics]

only just got it set up its 24"x12"x12" which i think is roughly 50ltr? its currently running at 21c (room temp, no heater), i've got a power filter thing and an under gravel filter.

How do platys deal with temperature changes? if i put new plats in my old tank with the heater and turned it down from 26c (i think is standard tropical temp not sure though) to 22/21c over a week, and then added them to my main tank, would this be healthy? The platys im getting are newish borns, i think he said they are between 6 weeks - 3 months depending.

I was thinking of putting my heater in my main tank afterwards to keep it at a steady 22c which i was told is good middle ground temp for keeping the goldfish and platys happy. However im worried about making it too hot for my commet, so im keen not to let the tank get over 22c

Also my local petshop is doing a special deal on White Cloud Mountain Minnow, which im told are nice and hardy and dont mind lower temps. Plus are nice and pretty too

 

[OldMan47]

The white clouds are cold water fish like your comets so the match should work but I'm afraid that Jazz is right about a comet being a large fish that will not be happy for very long in a 15 gallon tank.

 

[Kemics]

bah thats super-store pet shops for you, no idea. I was told the fish would be happy in a smallish tank, he's been in a tank for very nearly a year now. Does that mean by keeping him in the tank im impairing the quality of his life, he's my last coldwater fish in the tank, so in someways it would be handy to remove him and convert the tank to tropic temps (im sure my platys would be happy) only real inhibitor is my sentimentality towards my first fish would have to find a nice home for him

thanks for the response guys, greatly appreciated

 

[OldMan47]

With good food and plenty of room I would expect a comet a year old to be quite large by now. It should dwarf the platies by its size.

 

[Kemics]

he's roughly 4" to the platys 1" but they live together quite amicably and all get their fair share of food.

 

[Kemics]

right so i've got my tank set up to take the new platys, how well do they deal with temperature change? they are comming from a 26c tank. I thought i'd let them settle for a day so they can get over the trauma of being moved tanks. Then turn the temp down by 0.5c each day in till i get down to 22c and then put them in my main tank. Is that too quick a time for the transition or will they be okay?

 

[5teady_2012]

I would just turn the heater down 1 degree each day until its at 22, leave them in the tank for a further few days, then transfer them.