One Or Two?

[XeroTolerance]

I have decided to add one or two more platys to the tank in my sig. How many do you recommend? If I add one should it be male or female? If two, should it be 1 male and 1 female? You get the point.

I really would prefer to get male(s) because I do not want any fry but Ill pick whatever option is best suited for the tank.

 

[minnnt]

Personally i would get a female, males can often show aggression, and in a small tank like yours with other fish that would be the last thing you want. If you do get a female and she is pregnant then the fry will probably get eaten anyway... But if any do survive then take it as bonus. You can always give them away.

 

[KittyKat]

Personally, I would add another 3-5 flame tetras because they would be happier in a larger group.

If you really want platys (and I advise you against platys), then you should go for either 3 male or 3 *virgin* females. When kept in pairs of one sex, one will often pick of the other. When kept in pairs of opposite sex, the male will often harass the female half to death, which is why the 2+ females per male rule of thumb exists and applies to all common livebearers, and many uncommon ones too.

 

[Gilli]

Personally i wouldnt have any Platys as ive found them to be a nightmare despite them being so called community fish!. I had one lone male in my 250 L tank who was an absolute nightmare to my black phantom tetras always harrassing them so I decided id get a few more and got 3 males as i didnt want fry. The original one then spent all his time fighting viciously with the others and still harrassing my tetras to the point where i had to re-home him in my hospital tank along with a few shrimp for company! The remaining 2 never got on either although the fighting wasnt as bad and in such a big tank they did get some respite from each other but id never buy them again!

 

[XeroTolerance]

Thank you for everyone's fast replies!

Personally i would get a female, males can often show aggression, and in a small tank like yours with other fish that would be the last thing you want. If you do get a female and she is pregnant then the fry will probably get eaten anyway... But if any do survive then take it as bonus. You can always give them away.

If I do get a pregnant female and I don't want the fry should I still put her in a breeding net during labor?

Personally, I would add another 3-5 flame tetras because they would be happier in a larger group.

If you really want platys (and I advise you against platys), then you should go for either 3 male or 3 *virgin* females. When kept in pairs of one sex, one will often pick of the other. When kept in pairs of opposite sex, the male will often harass the female half to death, which is why the 2+ females per male rule of thumb exists and applies to all common livebearers, and many uncommon ones too.

Why would you advice against platys? (no pun intended I legitly would like to know)

Personally i wouldnt have any Platys as ive found them to be a nightmare despite them being so called community fish!. I had one lone male in my 250 L tank who was an absolute nightmare to my black phantom tetras always harrassing them so I decided id get a few more and got 3 males as i didnt want fry. The original one then spent all his time fighting viciously with the others and still harrassing my tetras to the point where i had to re-home him in my hospital tank along with a few shrimp for company! The remaining 2 never got on either although the fighting wasnt as bad and in such a big tank they did get some respite from each other but id never buy them again!

Do you think that all the fighting was because you had all male platys like KittyKat mentioned?

 

[KittyKat]

If I do get a pregnant female and I don't want the fry should I still put her in a breeding net during labor?

Since one of the moderators on this forums does not support direct speech along the lines of "normal breeding nets are a health hazard to the female", I will try to comment on this in the way I was advised to do by the said moderator: in my personal experience with 1000s of livebearer birthings in traps and various sized tanks, the average sized breeding trap in the average tank causes excessive stress to the female and drastically increases the chances of death during birthing, as well as that of miscarriages and problems with fry. In my personal experience with 1000s of livebearer birthings, it is normally safer to leave the female in the tank she is always in (providing adequate cover) or move her to a dedicated breeding tank.

Why would you advice against platys? (no pun intended I legitly would like to know)

(Not having a go at you or anything like that, just a list of reasons…) Because your set up could be improved to benefit the existing fish (I feel that their happiness is your first priority). Because platys are social fish so it is better to keep a larger group than a few and your tank is not likely to be able to support 12+ 2 inch fish (I consider 6 to be an absolute minimum for the tetras and 6 a good group for the platys). Because it is better to keep a mixed sex group and your tank is not large enough to support the young that they will have. Because the tetras would benefit from softer water, while platy females and fry should have hard water for their health (although the tetras will be fine in harder water). Because in my personal experience, they would benefit from having a 2ft long tank (and yours looks like it is shorter, is that so?). Because if the tank is under 2 ft long, it might be too small for any females to get away.

Do you think that all the fighting was because you had all male platys like KittyKat mentioned?

All females will also fight, as well mixed sex groups… the big difference is that mixed sex groups spend most of their time trying to mate, which doesn't leave quite as much time for fighting.

 

[minnnt]

I had a lone female and she was one of the nicest fish i've ever had. Very peaceful and pleasant fish. I suppose all will be different though.

If you're not fussed about fry then why bother going to the trouble of netting her, putting her in a trap and then returning her to the main tank. Just let any fry that she might produce fight for survival.

Maybe increasing the numbers of the Flame Tetra's would be a better idea though...

 

[XeroTolerance]

Thank you KittyKat for you response! My tank is indeed 2 feet long event though it may not seem that way in the picture. You made some very good points on why I shouldn't buy a platy or two. I think that I'm going to do as you said and increase the flame tetra population instead. Thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated!

If you're not fussed about fry then why bother going to the trouble of netting her, putting her in a trap and then returning her to the main tank.

I read somewhere that if you let your platy give birth in the main tank other fish may harass her and stress her out. Thanks for your help too, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[minnnt]

Far less than in a breeder net. Ideally a seperate tank would be the best option, but if you don't have that option then just leaving her in the tank would be the bast way to do it.

 

[KittyKat]

Far less than in a breeder net. Ideally a seperate tank would be the best option, but if you don't have that option then just leaving her in the tank would be the bast way to do it.

Aye, I agree