PLATY-how can you tell their sex

lucid_boy

lucid_boy

cancer
May 19, 2007
127
0
0
45
Salt Lake City, UT
hello
I recently purchased 5 sunburst platies the other day.
(the kind that are orange in front and red in back)
well it started out at 4 but the next day I went to the LFS and noticed that there was only 1 other platy like the kind I had, so I took him home cause I figured he should be with his little fish family...
anyway, back to the question, now that I have 5 sunburst platies I wanted to know is it easy to tell the difference of the males vs females?
also what is the best ratio for males and females when it comes to these fish?
again, thanks for the input,
allan

ps. they are the 1st residents in my new 55gal!
 
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Look at their anal fin..that's the one on the bottom close to the beginning of their tail....a fan shaped one is female and the males is thin and pointy (called a gonopodium). Also, females tend to be bigger than males. It's best to have more females than males....but be prepared for LOTS of babies if you do have some males and females in one tank.
 
isn't that kinda like the (molly or guppy) ?
 
Yes, Platies are livebearers like Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails, Endlers, and Anableps.

Like many other fish...having more females helps spread around the males advances to prevent over stressing the females. There are situations where this isn't such a huge a deal like species that form bonded pairs, schooling fish, etc.
 
cool, so since i have 5 platies of the sunburst variety now, would it be ok to put a different platy in there? and can males and females of different color patterns procreate? (eg; a male sunburst and a blue female) or does it have to be the exact species?
 
so platies and mollies can make babies?!?
is that what your telling me?
 
Yup, yup
 
so, all livebearers can mix together then?
 
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