Plattys + 8 Gallon

Thuggerz · Jun 26, 2006

Hi all, how many plattys can i stick in a 38 litre(8 gallon) tank?...Cheers!

Drewski · Jun 26, 2006

Thuggerz said:
Hi all, how many plattys can i stick in a 38 litre(8 gallon) tank?...Cheers!

Two maybe 3 tops, i had two in a similar sized tank but both adults died after spawning. Now i have a few babies.

Thuggerz · Jun 26, 2006

Drewski said:
Thuggerz said:

Hi all, how many plattys can i stick in a 38 litre(8 gallon) tank?...Cheers!

Click to expand...

Two maybe 3 tops, i had two in a similar sized tank but both adults died after spawning. Now i have a few babies.

Hi, well i've got 8 in my tank...whoops...do fish mind if there broken up?

Annastasia · Jun 26, 2006

If you mean physically broken up, then yes, I'm sure they mind.

But seperation wise...no, as long as they have at least a buddy and they are in the right ratio.

Thuggerz · Jun 26, 2006

Annastasia said:
If you mean physically broken up, then yes, I'm sure they mind. But seperation wise...no, as long as they have at least a buddy and they are in the right ratio.

Hi Annastasia, do you think 8 is to many for a 8 gallon tank?

Annastasia · Jun 26, 2006

Yes, definitely. I'd go down to 2-4, depending on what sexes you want.

drango91 · Jun 28, 2006

5 but with some areation only

Qays · Jun 29, 2006

5 is max.

Annastasia · Jun 29, 2006

I think 5 is too many. -_-

I mean, think of the swimming space, the fact the females will get chased by the males and won't have much room to hide....

What are the tank dimensions?

drango91 · Jul 2, 2006

yeah but when the platies come from the lfs they have only a circulated5 gallon cramped area, they are MUCH happer with much less platies an in a moderately sized tank, my first platy loved the 2.5 gal and HATED the 10 but she died shortly after from bacterial infection

sylvia · Jul 2, 2006

At the LFS the platies are still young and they only stay there for a very short while. I don't know why you think your platy was 'happier' in the smaller tank but it may well be something to do with the fact that it got sick when you moved it (this often happens to fish because they become stressed when moved into a new environment and need time to settle in again)

or perhaps the larger tank wasn't cycled or contained other fish that didn't get along with it etc... Consider where these fish live in the wild - certainly not in 2.5-5 gallon puddles!

I agree entirely with Anna - 5 is too many. I'd personaly only keep a trio myself (1 male, 2 females) as they're bound to end up breeding anyway and platies are rather more active than people give them credit for - not to mention that some female platies do actualy grow quite large.