How Can I Have Fry If I Have 2 Males! Fry Are Orange?

[CrazyAirborne]

ok so ive read how to sex my fish, but im just confused. I thought females were bigger than males. I figured my big silver platy was my female, cuz she got all "square" and i have 3 fry now. but all fry are orange. I only have these 2 plattys. the silver one also since ive had him/her has grown a long portion on his tail, do normal platties have this or do i have a mutt? maybe a sword tail mix? and ive noticed my silver guy kind of bullying the mickey, is this normal female behavior, or male? what do u guys think? both my plattys bottom fins look the same except for the silver has a long tube all the time.

 

[amy1994]

Sorry for the big link but it links to a picture which will tell you which is which.
Your mickey mouse platy is male, and your other fish is a swordtail not a platy, and it is also a male

You can tell it's a swordtail as it is starting to grow a small sord at the end of its tail, your platy will not grow this.
Also swordtails, like you can see, grow bigger than the platies.
O sorry is the female tucking away her fin? looks like a male from the pic

And what do you mean by bullying?
http/www.google.co...p=19&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=121&ty=58

 

[micko]

The one with the "tube" is a male. You should up your numbers of platies to a ratio of 1male:3female.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

when i got him, his tail looked completely normal, like the other platy, so at that time, there would have been no way to know he was a swordtail? arent there plattys with different finnage? Im not quite sold hes not a platty. also, yeah I now see that only males get the "tube"

the orange platty must be a female since i have fry.

heres a pic of him when his tail was more normal....

by bullying i mean, he frequently pushes her a little with his nose and she swims off, kinda like hes controlling her. that could be explained by him being male, and her being the only female? ill be increasing their numbers shortly

 

[micko]

Some females can tuck their anal fin in so they look like a male so I don't know. All sword tails grow that sword. They're not born with it.

 

[Paradise3]

Some females can tuck their anal fin in so they look like a male so I don't know. All sword tails grow that sword. They're not born with it.

Only male swordtails get the sword, not females.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Some females can tuck their anal fin in so they look like a male so I don't know. All sword tails grow that sword. They're not born with it.

Only male swordtails get the sword, not females.

so i for sure have a sword tail male then? is there any way to differentiate between a platty female and a swordtail female? or just a platty compared to a swordtail, other than a tail?

 

[MBOU]

Well, 100% both are male!!

Your orange micky mouse platy is male, even a female couldnt tuck her fins up quite that well!! (though you can try for more photos!).

Your other is just a young Swordtail, Swordies grow their tails at different rates depinding on their dominance, half to two thirds of male swordtails dont get their swords in the shops because theire are so many males in the small shop tanks.

It is fairly easy to tell between Swordtails and Platies but its hard to explain, its from experience of seeing a lot of both.

The swordtail has a wider/flatter face and is much longer in the body than the platy, also he stripes down the side isnt something you see on platies (not pure ones). Swordtails, male or female, are generally a lor longer and more streamlined than platies.

You are right in that you can get Brushtail platies with a small spiked tail but this is some fancy name for a hybrid. TBH most platies and swordtails are hybrids these days, same with guppies and endlers (all these fance scissor tail/pastel coloured guppies blah). Breeders and retailers are being pushed and pushed to come up with more and more bigger and brigher coloured livebearers and this is the results we get.

Oh and your little baby is a girl... congratulations

(dont know how you ended up with a baby, it is possible for livebearers to change sex but more likely it ended up in the bad when you bought a plant of fish from a shop and it got put into the tank!)

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Well, 100% both are male!!

Your orange micky mouse platy is male, even a female couldnt tuck her fins up quite that well!! (though you can try for more photos!).

Your other is just a young Swordtail, Swordies grow their tails at different rates depinding on their dominance, half to two thirds of male swordtails dont get their swords in the shops because theire are so many males in the small shop tanks.

It is fairly easy to tell between Swordtails and Platies but its hard to explain, its from experience of seeing a lot of both.

The swordtail has a wider/flatter face and is much longer in the body than the platy, also he stripes down the side isnt something you see on platies (not pure ones). Swordtails, male or female, are generally a lor longer and more streamlined than platies.

You are right in that you can get Brushtail platies with a small spiked tail but this is some fancy name for a hybrid. TBH most platies and swordtails are hybrids these days, same with guppies and endlers (all these fance scissor tail/pastel coloured guppies blah). Breeders and retailers are being pushed and pushed to come up with more and more bigger and brigher coloured livebearers and this is the results we get.

Oh and your little baby is a girl... congratulations

(dont know how you ended up with a baby, it is possible for livebearers to change sex but more likely it ended up in the bad when you bought a plant of fish from a shop and it got put into the tank!)

well i have 3 fry! so one adult has to be female! theres no way i got 3 fish from plants. i only noticed one fry for like a week, then i noticed 2 fry for another week or so, then in this last week, ive seen all 3, i moved 2 fry to a fry tank, and left the biggest fry in with the adults, since hes big enough and i have enough plants that hes been fine. I really think i have an adult female. i coulda swore my silver sword/platy had squared up... no pics of him in that state tho.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

ive never seen my mickey with his fins out on the bottom, but maybe i can catch a pic. i thought he was the male (cuz of his fins) and the silver was the female.

 

[MBOU]

Hmmm well silver one is the definate male, besides... got a sword... the brushtail platys get a tiny sword of a few millimetres.... but from the middle of the tail, not the bottom! and again, only the males get it.

You havent got any mollies or guppies in the tank have you?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

no other fish in the tank. after going down and turning the moonlight on my tank right now, I was able to see my mickey with his fins out a bit more. definitely looks pointed to me, meaning male right? and since the other guy has a tube and a sword tail, definitely male too? the only thing i can think of is that when we first got these guys 2 months ago, we originally bought 3, the third was this tiny little red/orange platy who looked traumatized and sad, my wife wanted him (to save him), so we got him. he never came out really at all, and then about 4 days later, died. i figured he was lethargic from the beginning, and it wasnt my fault, since he looked sick when we got him. maybe that little one was preggo and dropped 3 fry before dieing? idk, very weird to me.

 

[Paradise3]

no other fish in the tank. after going down and turning the moonlight on my tank right now, I was able to see my mickey with his fins out a bit more. definitely looks pointed to me, meaning male right? and since the other guy has a tube and a sword tail, definitely male too? the only thing i can think of is that when we first got these guys 2 months ago, we originally bought 3, the third was this tiny little red/orange platy who looked traumatized and sad, my wife wanted him (to save him), so we got him. he never came out really at all, and then about 4 days later, died. i figured he was lethargic from the beginning, and it wasnt my fault, since he looked sick when we got him. maybe that little one was preggo and dropped 3 fry before dieing? idk, very weird to me.

Did you get pics of the tiny one?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Ii don't think so. But I'll have to look. Also why would silver sword have his fin in a constant tube if there are no females around?

 

[helterskelter]

Very strange as I too am 100% sure you have two males (1 platy and 1 swordtail)
Nothing about your fish look's female and the picture you added as of a very young fish ie under a week old.

and your sure their are no other fish hiding LOL