Platies And Danios. Will They Mix?

[huckFIN]

I still have a long way to go before even buying any fish. I've only just bought my tank (106 litre) and haven't even started my fishless cycle yet.
In the meantime I'm starting to think about the kind(s) of fish I might want to keep and I'm looking at Platies and/or Danios.
If I choose both then can they cohabit the same tank without fighting or eating each other and would they require the same kind of water conditions etc?
I know I could probably find the answers to these questions if I scoured the forum so thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Corleone]

They'll be fine. Livebearers tend to prefer hard water, but aren't picky aside from mollies. Danios will accept just about anything except extremes.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, danios are just about the most universal, hardy, fun little speedy fish any beginner could choose to get along with lots of other fish. One of the only criticisms one could say about them is that if someone is particularly trying to put together a more calm, slow-moving tank, they might be considered too "busy." But, on the other hand, if one has kids, danios are a popular and entertaining fish for them very often.

Platies are also one of the most commonly recommended beginner fish, being quite hardy and not having personality quirks with other fish. The question any beginner should (but usually doesn't) ask him or herself is whether that first beginner tank is truly the right moment to also take on having a "livebearer" tank. Platies are livebearers and just like guppies, swords, endlers, mollies and other livebearers, they often will have babies almost immediately, often being pregnant prior to you getting them. What this does is throw an extra challange on top of cycling and other beginner growth curves. If you have children you may be faced with the distress of watching the babies get eaten. You may feel pressure to set up another tank for the babies, with all the attendant setup difficulties etc.

Anyway, you get the picture. Its not that having livebearers might not be the very best thing that's happened in your house, its just that its important to make that be a concious choice I think so that you can better enjoy whichever type of situation you really want for your first tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LauraFrog]

Of course if you don't want fry, you could just buy all male platies. Platies are pretty flexible with regards to how they're kept, you can have loads of them or just one or two, but you should keep either all male, all female, or two or three females per male. Otherwise the males harass the females. If you don't want to have tonnes of fry, just buy males because females can store sperm and will continue to produce fry for at least six months after being separated from males.

 

[Corleone]

Considering the size of the tank, you could also tailor stocking to control breeding. Limit the number of platys, say a m/f/f trio, and include some active, reasonable sized fish - danios, barbs, bigger tetras, dwarf cichlid perhaps - to ensure the fry get snapped up. Make sure hiding places are a bit on the big size so adult fish can pursue fry into them.

 

[huckFIN]

Thankyou for your replies people. It's not my intention to breed fish - at least not at this early stage - so I was considering just getting the one sex.