Platys And Betta In A 10 Gallon

[ficklefins]

I gave a friend a fish tank as a "dorm warming gift" at the beginning of the school year in August.  She knows literally nothing about fish and this was actually her first pet as well. It was just a ten gallon full setup I had already had laying around and a pretty betta fish she picked out at Petco.  The tank is almost just as much mine as it is hers, I go with her to the fish store and help her buy fish and supplies all the time.  At the very beginning she had to deal with fin rot with her betta, he was in pretty bad shape after she added a decoration into the tank that had sharp edges (learned the hard way after refusing to listen!)  After Gilly was all healed up, we added in 2 platys originally, and now she has 4 platys and the betta.  Only males, we made sure of that. 
 
I don't know a whole lot about platys: how big they get, how many can go in a tank, etc.  I figured the 4 plus 1 betta was pretty much it.  However apparently there is some REALLY COOL platy she saw at the petstore the other day

.  Would 5 platys and a betta be okay in a 10 gallon?  I do make sure that she keeps up with weekly partial water changes but other than that I don't really know what her upkeep of the tank is.  The filtration is a sponge filter, if that means anything.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I thought platys should be kept in a 15g, but havn't had any myself so can't really say

 
I hope your friend is enjoying her fishies. She should sign up here 

 

[ficklefins]

I know bigger is better with most fish but I really didn't know enough about platys and thought if there was any fish that would work in a 10 gallon, it would be them.  Plus she wanted to have fish that all looked different so they could have names

I hope your friend is enjoying her fishies. She should sign up here 

 
Oh god, she's enjoying them.  I get text updates at least once a day.  That considered, she's probably not THAT into her fish yet, haha.
 
Also forgot to mention that a bigger tank isn't really an option, 10 gallons is the limit at the dorms. 

 

[Ninjouzata]

Ahh I see. Hopefully someone else can say on if she should add any more or not!

 

[ficklefins]

Haha, thanks! I checked on the aquarium advisor website, and it tells me the tank would be 99% stocked with 5 platys and a betta, can't get more precise than that, I don't think.  I know that site isn't 100% accurate though so hopefully some platy experts can offer some advice