Platy Pick'n'mix

[daizeUK]

I'd like to get 4-5 platies to start.  1 male and 3 or 4 females.  I'm trying to decide which types to get.
 
It's platy heaven at one of my local stores, they have so many different brightly coloured types.  My favourites are red mickey mouse, red wagtail and orange sunset platies.
 
Is it okay to get a pick'n'mix of different colours or should I stick to all the same type?

 

[leighton_87]

If you don't want to rear fry you will be fine with a mix

However, any fry will be crossbreeds and eventually lose all interesting colour - in a similar way to NI matter what paints you mix together when you mix enough different colours you always end up with brown.

 

[daizeUK]

Thanks for the reply.
 
Let's say I wanted red mickey mouse fry.  I could have mickey mouse male & females and then a sunset female thrown in for variety?  And then separate the fry when they show their colours, would that work?
 
I was also worried about inbreeding, if I buy males & females all from the same tank then they are going to be brothers & sisters aren't they?

 

[Paradise3]

Thanks for the reply.
 
Let's say I wanted red mickey mouse fry.  I could have mickey mouse male & females and then a sunset female thrown in for variety?  And then separate the fry when they show their colours, would that work?
 
I was also worried about inbreeding, if I buy males & females all from the same tank then they are going to be brothers & sisters aren't they?

 
Not always Some LFS' will order in say 3 different batches of platies of all different colour strains and put 2 different colour strains together. Same with guppies I have a group of guppies who were all in the same tank but aren't related in the slightest.

 

[daizeUK]

Sorry, I should have said.  My LFS has red mickey mouse platies in one tank, all identical size and evidently quite young.  Then red wagtails in another tank, a bit older and bigger but again all the same.  They have about 8 tanks of platies in specific colours, none are mixed up.  It really looks like all the fish in one tank came from the same 'batch', so I assumed they would be related.

 

[Paradise3]

Sorry, I should have said.  My LFS has red mickey mouse platies in one tank, all identical size and evidently quite young.  Then red wagtails in another tank, a bit older and bigger but again all the same.  They have about 8 tanks of platies in specific colours, none are mixed up.  It really looks like all the fish in one tank came from the same 'batch', so I assumed they would be related.

 
They probably did then So yes they would be inbreeding but I can guarantee that all the platies they have in will be inbred anyway. Their mum will probably be their sister as well.

 

[Timberbatch]

Sorry, I should have said.  My LFS has red mickey mouse platies in one tank, all identical size and evidently quite young.  Then red wagtails in another tank, a bit older and bigger but again all the same.  They have about 8 tanks of platies in specific colours, none are mixed up.  It really looks like all the fish in one tank came from the same 'batch', so I assumed they would be related.

 
They probably did then

So yes they would be inbreeding but I can guarantee that all the platies they have in will be inbred anyway. Their mum will probably be their sister as well.

LOL! Oh jeez I laughed at that harder than I should have. 
 
Yes, it is so hard to choose from the wonderful array of platys. I saw some at my LFS that were absolutely gorgeous, wish I could remember what they were
I always have had a thing for sunsets and blue platys though, red wags are a nice choice as well

 

[daizeUK]

I think the male definitely has to be a mickey mouse.  Why?  Because my kids have named them already lol, even before we get the fish.
So of course he has to be Mickey.  One of the other names they chose was Spicy, that sounds like a female sunset to me

 

[fish48]

Thanks for the reply.
 
Let's say I wanted red mickey mouse fry.  I could have mickey mouse male & females and then a sunset female thrown in for variety?  And then separate the fry when they show their colours, would that work?
 
I was also worried about inbreeding, if I buy males & females all from the same tank then they are going to be brothers & sisters aren't they?

dont worrey about inbreeding thay are all ready inbreed pick your fish and let them inbreed , breeding brothers & sisters do no harm to  to each other
always breed with the  biggest & best fish remove any deformed fry,  dont be put of by people saying after 2 0r 3 generations you will need to add new stock,  fish can be inbreed for many many years with out any problems

 

[Paradise3]

Thanks for the reply.
 
Let's say I wanted red mickey mouse fry.  I could have mickey mouse male & females and then a sunset female thrown in for variety?  And then separate the fry when they show their colours, would that work?
 
I was also worried about inbreeding, if I buy males & females all from the same tank then they are going to be brothers & sisters aren't they?

dont worrey about inbreeding thay are all ready inbreed pick your fish and let them inbreed , breeding brothers & sisters do no harm to  to each other
always breed with the  biggest & best fish remove any deformed fry,  dont be put of by people saying after 2 0r 3 generations you will need to add new stock,  fish can be inbreed for many many years with out any problems

 
Oh yeah, Inbreeding is OK as long as any deformed fish are culled early on.

 

[fish48]

Without  inbreeding we wouldn't have all the wonderful good  quality guppy’s that are around these days.  

 

[daizeUK]

I'd rather avoid inbreeding if I can.  Common sense dictates it's not good for the fish, but I'm also worried about ending up with fry that I can't rehome because nobody wants hybrids.
 
If I get a mix of platies, how important is it to ensure that they are all the same size?  Will a larger platy bully the smaller ones?

 

[fish48]

I'd rather avoid inbreeding if I can.  Common sense dictates it's not good for the fish, but I'm also worried about ending up with fry that I can't rehome because nobody wants hybrids.

nobody wants hybrids lol. thay are all  hybrids
Common sense dictates inbreeding is good  were do you think all of the colourful varieties come from. 
avoiding inbreeding is also good remember you will still be breeding from a  hybrid.

 

[daizeUK]

I actually thought you were joking, now I'm just confused
Guppies are well known for their fragility due to inbreeding
What do you mean, they are all hybrids?  I thought it was a bit like dog breeds, so you have labrador and poodle pedigrees and a labradoodle mongrel would be a hybrid.  No?

 

[fish48]

1. I am not joking When it comes to breeding  livebearers all of the common livebearers from lfs are hybrids the platy’s at some stage were crossed between to closely related species of fish wild, xiphophorus a platy and swordtail it is how they created the colours,  

         many  people  say   Guppies are well known for their fragility due to inbreeding there is a lack understanding  about inbreeding the fish . as soon as there is a problem with a guppy it’s oh it must be down to too much inbreeding it is wrong to think that, in most situations it as very little to do with inbreeding