Male Swordtail as centerpiece fish? Mixing male Swordtails and male Platies?

[Akeath]

I’m interested in maybe getting a male Swordtail sometime in the future, but I have a few questions about them. I’d want to avoid the territorial aggression I would get from keeping multiple male Swordtails together. I’m also concerned about fry overstocking the tank. Are male Swordtails still social enough that they would do best kept with a group of females? Or would a male Swordtail be content being the only Swordtail in the tank as a centerpiece fish?

I’m also wondering about people’s experience keeping male Swordtails with male Platies. As I understand it, nearly all Platies and Swordtails in the hobby have some hybridization between the two types of fish. That being the case, would a male Swordtail be aggressive toward Platy males, like he would be with other Swordtails? Would he see male Platies as competition and bully the male Platies? Or would he not realize they were males without Swords and mistake them for females he could breed with, and harass them that way? Or would a Swordtail see male Platies as different enough that he wouldn’t interact with them much? What has been your experience keeping male Swordtails and male Platies together?

 

[emeraldking]

Oh, there's no exact answer on your question. They "can" be aggressive but they can also be peaceful towards another. It really depends on the individual nature of them. If I look overhere at my place, they're good with another. And sometimes you'll be able to witness a short macho game between those males. No fighting, but just a short moment between them to see who's the bigger boss. And then they're okay with another.