Anyone heard of dwarf platties?

[dothedew]

Ok, today I was at Petsmart pricing gravel, and I saw "Dwarf Platties". They might have had a "spice word" attached like neon, but that doesn't matter. Has anyone heard of these? The label said max size 1.5 in, and they were about the size of the dwarf puffers in the tank next to them.

I was thinking of making my 20g a livebearer tank, and I kind of liked these.
So, anyone got a profile of any kind somewhere?

 

[dothedew]

Also, any way to sex them? I suppose that they're just like normal platties, but I don't know how to do them either.

 

[sylvia]

Sexing will be like normal platies I think. As for what they are... I haven't heard of dwarf platies but I HAVE heard of pygmy swords. If there is no such thing as a dwarf platy, I'm guessiong it's just a 'spice-up' word for the name like you suggested or a hybrid with the pygmy sword.

 

[sylvia]

Oh, BTW, odinary platies get to 1.5 inches as well.

 

[Sanj]

I thought ordinary platies could grow upto 4" especially the females (males a bit smaller).

Its pretty easy to sex them, males have what looks like a em willy )

 

[newfishies]

they had some dwarf platys at my petsmart...they were only about 1inch and looked pretty proportionate, not like young platys with big eyes, you know? i have no knowledge of them though, so i guess i am not that much help!

 

[StarOrbs]

Ekk, I hate petsmart's fish there always seem to be dead fish in some tank or another. Of course maybe it was food.

 

[sylvia]

Platies rarely get to over 2 inches, never 4. You are probably talking about swordtails which look incredibly similar (though longer and more stream-lined) and the females do regularly grow to 4 inches, the males rarely get much over 2.5 though.

 

[sunflower]

Platies rarely get to over 2 inches, never 4. You are probably talking about swordtails which look incredibly similar (though longer and more stream-lined) and the females do regularly grow to 4 inches, the males rarely get much over 2.5 though.

I have female plattys that are 2.5 inches

You sex them by looking at their anal fins. Females are fan shaped and males are like a tube.

 

[sylvia]

I didn't say never now did I?

 

[sylvia]

Oh and x. variatus platies are bigger and regularly get to 3 inches and look pretty much identical to ordinary platies (x. maculatus)... Just thought I'd mention that They also cross-breed with each other so there are millions of hybrids.

 

[nino]

i actually bought a "dwarf platy" last june or so. i bought him at petsmart because he was only 89 cents and really cute. he has barely grown since then, and i'm sure he is sexually mature because he's always chasing around a big female platy (about four times his size) with his gonopodium. we try to feed him extra so maybe he'll grow more, but it is difficult in a 55 gallon tank.

 

[gwlee7]

I've seen the "dwarf platies" there as well. The petSmart here has sunset dwarfs which are really pretty. They have an orange head, yellow body, and orange tail. I have one regular sized sunset platy and she is beautiful as well.

The dwarfs are very cool looking and the earlier poster is right. They are "proportional" and not just petSmart trying to sell fry.

 

[Def]

Yeah, I have a couple of platys that are 2.5" and over...