▷ Platies in the Aquarium | All information, key data and details

Platy data sheet

German name:
platy

Scientific name:
Xiphophorus maculatus

Origin:

Central America Mexico

Size:
M 3.5cm / W 6cm

Aquarium

Length:
60 cm

Contents:
From 54 liters

Lighting:

Light to shady

Furnishings:

Plant

water values

Temperature:

18-26ºC

PH value:

7 – 8

carbonate hardness:

5 – 20° dKH

total hardness:

5 – 25°dGH

Behave

Number:

From 5

Area:
center

propagation:
Breeds quickly and frequently (gestation period 24 days)

Lining:
omnivore

Behave:

Sociable – no individual housing of males recommended – mixed groups

Difficulty level:
Beginner

The colorful world of platies

Keeping Platies

Platys are relatively tolerant of water parameters. Slightly harder water with a pH between 7 and 7.5 is ideal. But they can also be kept at a pH of 6.6 to 6.8.

If platies are to be kept in water with low carbonate hardness, they must be acclimated to the water slowly.

Typical red platies:

Wild Colored Platies:

Platy social behavior

Do platies sleep?

Platys like to withdraw into a thicket of plants in the evening. There they stand very still, almost without moving. It’s actually a kind of sleep.

Why females sometimes put their fins on

Sometimes platy females put on their fins. The dorsal fin is folded back and the caudal fin is barely spread. They often isolate themselves from the group and hide e.g. B. in the plant thicket. Depending on the aquarium, some females remain completely absent for a few days.

Females exhibit this behavior when they are being pushed too hard by a male.

Pinching fins is generally a sign of malaise. It must therefore be carefully observed whether the cause is an obtrusive male or possibly an illness.

aggressive males

Platys Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: CC Attr. SA 3.0 Author: Rasvis

The courtship behavior of the males includes, among other things, nudging or ramming the female’s snout in the side.

The females are literally chased or driven through the aquarium. Females that are particularly young or not ready to spawn can be severely harassed as a result.

It is absolutely necessary to create alternative possibilities for the females, e.g. B. caves, tufts of plants or other hiding places.

In extreme cases, the male must be separated from the female.

Platies fight each other:

Males and females often approach each other in their display posture. As a rule, the inferior female invites the male to mate. If this does not happen, the female is often too young or the male too aggressive. Possibly. In such a case, finding an experienced and strong female can help.

Depending on the size of the aquarium and the number of males, platy males form a kind of territory. Older males try z. B. to drive away younger, inferior males.

Do platies eat their own young?

Yes

Many other fish species also see their spawn or their young as a welcome additional source of food. On the other hand, the livebearing toothcarps, which include the platys, are extremely prolific.

In an aquarium with dense planting, especially with floating plants in which the young can hide, enough young animals will survive without further protective measures.

Sex differences in platys

How do females and males differ?

At the beginning of sexual maturity, the anal fin of the male forms into the so-called gonopodium. Until then, the anal fin is rounded in females and males.

In some males, the gonopodium does not form until they are fully grown. It is therefore also spoken of late males. These are considered particularly well suited for breeding.

mating in platys

how do you know when platys are mating?

2 Wagtail Platys Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: CC Attr. SA 3.0 Author: Twowells

First, the male constantly swims around the female. Then the male presses himself to the side of the female. The male inserts his copulatory organ into the female’s opening for fractions of a second. This opening is in front of the anal fin.

This is repeated several times until the female finishes mating. In addition, the female may adopt the so-called humble attitude.

The female twists the body in an S-shape. As soon as the female assumes this position, the male lets go of the female.

Mating is basically the same as with guppies, black mollies and swordtails as well as other carp fish. While in some of these species the female can only be fertilized from one specific side, in Platys it is unimportant from which direction the male swims towards the female.

Xiphophorus maculatus Source: Image on Wikimedia Commons License: CC Attr. SA 3.0 Author: Carlosar

There are differences from species to species and possibly from fish to fish.

It was e.g. B. observed that platy males swim backwards towards the female or sneak up on them from behind.

Fast, jerky movements by the male and downright chasing of the female by the male also occur.

In some species, the position of humility is also adopted by the inferior male in rank fights, so that the stronger male will leave him alone.

breeding of platies

All cultivated forms of the platys can reproduce among themselves. Platys can even mate with swordtails.

The offspring are also capable of reproduction. In this way, various breeding traits, such as colors and fin shapes, are exchanged between platys and swordtails.

The color variation with red body and black fins is called wagtail, sometimes red wagtail.

There are also yellow wagtails, with yellow bodies and black fins. The variant with a predominantly black body is called tuxedo.

Which rearing / spawning boxes should you use?

The question of frequency plays a particularly important role here. If it is planned that the platies or other fish spawn more often, a «better» spawning tank is worthwhile.

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