platies breeding

[mishi8]

i've had my 2 sunset fire platies since mid-july. one is male, the other female, and they're both healthy. the problem is that they arent breeding.

It usually doesn't take much for platies to breed. Just a couple of thoughts on why they may not be breeding...
- They may not be mature enough yet
- The "female" may be a male that hasn't fully developed yet
- One or both may be sterile (not uncommon, especially with cross-breeding and over-breeding)

 

[attiladahun]

i'm still pretty convinced that i have a compatible pair of platies. i don't think theyre mutts, they have vibrant colors, and look the same species, but the male has a funny red mark behind the dorsal fin. i'll get some pics asap on my next post. also, they are both the same size-around 3/4 of an inch, probably mature enough, i think, would u?

thanx again

 

[tricksterpup]

Are you doing regular water changes? Regular feedings of mixed foods?

"Here is some good advice from Dr. Ted Colletti.

So in summary, keep the water calcium hard if you plan on keeping aquarium strains Mollys (or any other livebearer). Temperature near 80F is recommended for the fancy hybrid strains. Maintain weekly water changes of 30% and give them some space. I’d put no more than a trio of the larger fancy strains in a 10-gallon tank to bring them to full beauty. A 20 long is even better.

As for your fish being mutts, most fancy colored platies are actually mutts. Platies and Swords are from the same family. But if you want to see what true wild platies look like, try this link. http://xiphophorus.org/platys.htm

http://xiphophorus.org is a great site for info on platies and swordtails.

 

[attiladahun]

pvc is the least natural thing you could put in there, why not just use some driftwood?

i originally wanted to put some driftwood in the tank, but my lfs doesn't carry driftwood and the petco has expensive, cheap, fake-looking dribtwood. if someone could hook me up with some bogwood thats natural and not messed up by human hands, that'd be great.

 

[mishi8]

i'm still pretty convinced that i have a compatible pair of platies. i don't think theyre mutts, they have vibrant colors, and look the same species, but the male has a funny red mark behind the dorsal fin. i'll get some pics asap on my next post. also, they are both the same size-around 3/4 of an inch, probably mature enough, i think, would u?

thanx again

Hard to say, time will tell if they're both fully mature. I have heard that some breeds of livebearers are sterile though. At one LFS here, I was told that all the balloon mollys they sell are sterile. Apparently, it keeps hobbyists from breeding them. Don't know how much truth there is to that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

 

[attiladahun]

how should i find out whether petco sells sterile platies? if they do sell only sterile ones, how could i find a breeder to get some that aren't?

while i'm asking, can i get some opinions about whether i should get real or fake driftwood?

ps: sorry i couldn't get pics of the fish, it turns out my fish photography skills suck.

 

[mishi8]

how should i find out whether petco sells sterile platies? if they do sell only sterile ones, how could i find a breeder to get some that aren't?

while i'm asking, can i get some opinions about whether i should get real or fake driftwood?

ps: sorry i couldn't get pics of the fish, it turns out my fish photography skills suck.

At this point, you don't know for sure that sterility is the problem. You could simply mention to Petco that your platies don't seem to be breeding, and ask if there could there be a reason for it. Have you done a little bit more research elsewhere about platies and breeding, to rule out all possible reasons? One other thought...could the female just be refusing the male's advances? Has he been hounding her at all?

The advantage to fake driftwood is that you don't need to sink it, it won't release tannins into your water, and will not affect (lower) your pH.

 

[tricksterpup]

how should i find out whether petco sells sterile platies? if they do sell only sterile ones, how could i find a breeder to get some that aren't?

while i'm asking, can i get some opinions about whether i should get real or fake driftwood?

ps: sorry i couldn't get pics of the fish, it turns out my fish photography skills suck.

Ok, sterility is probably not your problem. I have never heard of this and feel its utter non sense. Here are some questions.
How often do you change your water? and how much of it do you change?
Water quality is more than like the reason why your fish are not breeding. Unless you do not have an actual pair.
Male platy

Female platy

 

[mishi8]

Ok, sterility is probably not your problem. I have never heard of this and feel its utter non sense.

Geez, you know I didn't suggest it as the answer, I just threw it out there as one of many possibilities to consider.

As an example from my own tank-- out of my 4 platies, I've got one male and three females (all added to the tank at the same time). One female has mated with the male and produced a number of broods, one female has mated with the male with no resulting pregnancies, and one "female" may actually be a juvenile male who is still developing. It is entirely possible that the female who has not produced fry is sterile, whether or not it's from overbreeding/genetics, health issues or water quality issues.

 

[Beeker]

Really, if your Platies aren't breeding, something is wrong. One of my females gave birth in the bag on the way home. The babies got eaten and I had another brood a week later. It doesn't take much do breed them. Just make sure there are a lot of plants and hiding places. IMO real plants help.