Breeding Platies

[reed_kamsler]

hello i have some garter snakes that eat feeder fish and platies seemed like the easiest to breed (that didn't lay eggs) but i have a few questions, how many babies do they have? what temp should their water be and what water heater do you recommend? im getting a 10 gallon tank for 1 male and 2 female platies or 1 male and 3 female platies, does that sound good?can one male get three pregnant? How many could i breed in a 20 gallon 2 males 4 females, 2 male 5 females? and im getting a 30 gallon to raise the babies in sound good? and does anything differ between the color types of platies? like number of babies or anything else like that?
Any help is appreciated
Thanks,
Reed

 

[kribensis12]

You cant just throw them in. You have to cycle your tank. Or you fish wont even live long enough to breed. 1 male can get an infanite amount of females pregnant. The general rule of thumb is 1 inch per gallon, and 1 male to 2/3 females. I would get 2 males and 8 females. Make sure your filter is established or your fish will die. The babies are born microscopic( well, not literally) and will take about 2 month's to have a snake be able to eat them in the begging. I would research Ccyling a tank before you buy your fish. Also, this will be better off in the Common Livebearer area.

 

[reed_kamsler]

oh ok, so the 20 gallon with 2 males and 8 females?if i find out thats too many i can always keep less in a large tank right? and is there anything bad about having colored and not ugly platies? and what heater do you reccommend? thanks,
Reed

You cant just throw them in. You have to cycle your tank. Or you fish wont even live long enough to breed. 1 male can get an infanite amount of females pregnant. The general rule of thumb is 1 inch per gallon, and 1 male to 2/3 females. I would get 2 males and 8 females. Make sure your filter is established or your fish will die. The babies are born microscopic( well, not literally) and will take about 2 month's to have a snake be able to eat them in the begging. I would research Ccyling a tank before you buy your fish. Also, this will be better off in the Common Livebearer area.

 

[kribensis12]

I would recommend something like this: http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?...ly&keepsr=1
Affordable, reliable, what more can you ask for? What do you mean by colored? Like the red ones? It dosent matter, they all breed the same.

 

[5teady_2012]

20 gallon, you can have about 25-30 platties with a good filter...

Why not breed endlers instead? Most endlers breed every 17-21 dayswhere platties every 4-6 weeks, and you can have a more in your tank cos they dont grow as big..

if you decide on endlers, throw in 5 males, and 20 females, you will be amazed at how much fry you get lol.., although you could put 30-35 adult endlers in easy

Also, you can just let them drop the fry in the tank, endlers tend not to bother eating thier young

Summat to consider i guess

 

[kribensis12]

True, i've never seen guppies or endler's eat their fry.

 

[5teady_2012]

Personally, what i would do is, if your only going to be feeding them to summat else (which i dont really like )

Why not just throw in a mix of endlers and guppies, you will get hundreds of fry and lots of color in the tank

 

[kribensis12]

It is hard to find Endler's. Just get feeder guppies.

 

[5teady_2012]

It is hard to find Endler's. Just get feeder guppies.

Agree, if you cant find endlers, guppies is better, they are always more at the 4 week mark for drops and have lots of fry...

Try to get a decent size females, the bigger the female, the more fry you will get

 

[kribensis12]

It is hard to find Endler's. Just get feeder guppies.

Agree, if you cant find endlers, guppies is better, they are always more at the 4 week mark for drops and have lots of fry...

Try to get a decent size females, the bigger the female, the more fry you will get

tou'che

 

[reed_kamsler]

Ya i already considered guppies but way to small they would have to eat like 60 each (if they can catch them) i think ill just do 1.4 platies in this 15 gallon i found that comes with a heater and filter and stuf
thanks for the help,
Reed

It is hard to find Endler's. Just get feeder guppies.

Agree, if you cant find endlers, guppies is better, they are always more at the 4 week mark for drops and have lots of fry...

Try to get a decent size females, the bigger the female, the more fry you will get

tou'che

 

[reed_kamsler]

how often should i actually clean the tank, im supposed to siphen out 10%-15% of the water everyday but when do i have to actually clean it?

 

[LauraFrog]

10-15% daily is a lot of water. I do it 30/40% a week, but I don't suppose it matters.
I think you could fit way more fish in those tanks. I kept guppies alive (eight of them) in a glass jar for two years when I was eight years old, and I've kept six platies in a five gal before without a single death, for several months (got a bigger tank now).

Platies are bigger. Mollies are bigger yet, but they're touchier, nippier, lets-eat-our-fry-ier and slower growing. So I reckon platies are your best bet as feeders. When you buy your starter fish keep an eye out for the largest males there and choose ones that are actively chasing females. Choose large females that are not too long in the body because in my experience the longer (guppy-shaped-er) ones drop less fry. I've not noticed any difference with the amount of fry dropped with different strains. Common strains may be cheaper. If you buy nice looking starter fish you will end up with the odd decent-looking baby - you can probably trade these at the LFS.

 

[kribensis12]

10-15% a day unless the tank is cycled.

Also, platies grow the slowest

 

[LauraFrog]

Good point. If you feed them cheap rubbish (which is what most people use to keep feeders alive) they grow really, really slowly. It can take over six months to get them anywhere near adult size without good food.