Platy Q

[ellena]

Platies have never really caught my eye and I've avoided them as I think I'll be overrun with fry in no time!
LYS had some really pretty sunset ones in today though.
Are females similar looking to males? There's was nothing to choose between the tank specimens, colour wise.
Will fry get eaten or are large numbers likely to survive? Other tank mates would be male honey gourami and hengelis rasbora.
Thanks

 

[Akasha72]

you can tell the females and males apart by looking at the anal fin. The male's anal fin is pointed and the female's is triangular.
 
all the useful info is here
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/422940-really-useful-information-about-common-livebearers/
 
That should tell you all you need to know

 

[Arcticfox1977]

Like mentioned above males have a pointy looking fin underneath. Females have a fan shape fin underneath. I started with 3 platies at one point, ended up with 32. They breed like rabbits.

 

[gmc1]

I keep six males together with no issues.in my 60 gallon

 

[betta fish]

Hi, females will look similar to males colour wise and they are not drab in comparison to say female guppies to male guppies, I would think the gourami will polish off most of the fry but some may survive if you have plenty of plant cover 

 

[ellena]

Like mentioned above males have a pointy looking fin underneath. Females have a fan shape fin underneath. I started with 3 platies at one point, ended up with 32. They breed like rabbits.

Exactly what I feared! I don't have the tank capacity for millions of babies!
I could try and get all males, but again, tank size would make it less than ideal.
Hmmm, might try and source some sunset gouramis instead.

 

[Akasha72]

if you can identify definite males then you're fine but add a female and you'll be dealing with fry week in week out. If you like them but don't want fry then an all male group is fine. If there's no females to fight over they should get along okay

 

[betta fish]

I have both male and female platies and guppies in my tank and am not over run with fry, I do have a fair amount of plant cover but my kribs ensure I never get over run, occasionally one or two slip the net ( the clever/stronger ones) which is the ones you want really! so it is doable