# my platies(beginner)



## hh9686 (Aug 21, 2010)

sorry in advanced in this is really long! 

Ok, so around late June-Early July, i went and bought some platies...2 to be exact. the orange/yellow ones with red tails. While in the petstore the lady told me they will breed if kept well. well she didn't tell me that the female was already pregnant. Sadly the male died the day after i got him but the female stayed alive to give birth. by the time i even realized she was pregnant she had already had her babies and ate all but one,this was late July/Early August I still have her BTW. I never would have realized it was so easy to breed them. 
i also have three barbs and a very smal algea eater and they all live great together. 
So i have a 5gal with the lone Fry in it, she LOVES it!. and i have recently bought three more platies, supposedly 2 females and a male, who turned out to be two males and a female. i had the manager in the pet store helping me. He didn't know how to sex them...so i had to help and it was about 15mins before closing...so the fish i guess were ready for the lights out....or the water current was too fast since most of their fins weren't fanned out. i got them about a week and a half ago. Well i knew the female was pregnant this time...YAY!!! And since she was getting kinda big i wanted to move her to my five gallon before she started brooding(or w/e it is called) this way she would be really comfortable in her tank before having the fry. I moved the lonesome fry to the big tank for this...which she hated...she hid behind the filter until i feeding. 
Well this morning i though she looked thinner, but i couldn't tell cause she was in the back of the tank and the tank front is curved, so it distorts a bit. then i noticed a new fry....then another, and another until ii counted roughly 16 new fry. I took her out of the 5gal and put her back in the 10gal in a breeder tank(the floating hatchery thingy) for the rest of the day to see if she was gonna have anymore. I moved the big fry into the 5gal with the rest since they are all fry. i followed the Mouth rule (she's just small enough to go back) well know that you know the story and if you actually read it all here are the few questions i have about my fishies. 


How long does it take for fry to mature to breeding age?
How big will they be when they are breeding age?
How will i know when my females are ready to breed again?
i want to sell them, or give them to the petstore, how long after being born should i wait?
if breeding different colors will the fry come out all different colors?
what color variations are there for platties?
when will my platties breed again? on had her fry about a month to a month and a half ago, the other yesterday..
How Long will platties live? 
How many time will they have fry in their lifetime?

the most recent mother is all bold orange, 
one of my males is Red, 
the other read with black spots and black before the tail-fin
the original female is light orange and bold orange in back on the tail in such.
her lonely fry is the same color
all the other fry are really light like a yellowish. 

TANK temps:
about 80-82 degrees for the 10gal
about 78-82 degrees for the 5gal


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## hh9686 (Aug 21, 2010)

i forgot to mention all the fry see really light..like yellow.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Ask the store. Some want bigger fish than others.


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## hh9686 (Aug 21, 2010)

oh i also forgot to mention the water is a bit warm...
about 80-82 degrees for the 10gal
about 78-82 degrees for the 5gal


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

6 weeks to reach breeding age and really small like a half inch i have seen them have babies. your females are already still pregnant typically by the time they give birth there are already more eggs developing inside of them they can have babies every 3-4 weeks. they will probably only take them if they are atleast 3/4 to 1 inch long minimum because they will be hard to sell being so small. coloration all depends on what lineages are in their genes. also it depends on what males they have been in contact with in the last 6 months. a female live bearer can get pregnant by many many many males at the same time and can hold sperm for 6 months. there are many many color variations of platies and the posobilities are vertually endless for colors. idk what their average lifespan but its atleast a few years. and it all depends on the fish how many times they can breed in their life some will breed more than others and some will die from being overbreed it depends on how comfortable the fish feels in your tank some will hold babies longer than others if they dont feel comfortable and some will push them out as soon as they are ready. but like i said they can have babies every 3-4 weeks for as long as they remain fertile. They will also have more and more and more babies every time they get pregnant idk about platys but gupys can eventually have up to 200 babys at one time and i think platys and mollys are similar to that. hope this helps


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## LexiiFraii (Aug 24, 2010)

thanks for the help!!!


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## MsBugg (Aug 2, 2010)

There are many many different types of platy variations, some even come in a bright blue, like turquoise! So really, it's pretty unpredictable, which is really fun!  Platys are very pretty, I have an all platy tank, and my black platy is in the process of giving birth right now, so I'm with you on the beginner boat.  Once I get more information, I'll let you know as well.


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## hh9686 (Aug 21, 2010)

MsBugg said:


> There are many many different types of platy variations, some even come in a bright blue, like turquoise! So really, it's pretty unpredictable, which is really fun!  Platys are very pretty, I have an all platy tank, and my black platy is in the process of giving birth right now, so I'm with you on the beginner boat.  Once I get more information, I'll let you know as well.


aw my fry are doing really well. i had them in the 5 gal tank and they grew pretty quickly i keep my water pretty warm too. i tried putting them with he larger fish last week and they had a fiesta...so i lost five, then i put the older ones in the 5 gal and the fry in the 10 gal...they are growing A LOT faster in the 10gal...i guess cause there is so much more room. i moved all the foliage to one side and a lot of them love to just hang out in there. most of them seem to be turning a bold orange color. a few seem like they could be pregnant, but i am not gonna worry about separating their fry until this batch brows to at least half the size of the adults. Today i am going to get a couple more females(hopefully pregnant ones) and put them in the breeding tank until they have their fry. i am hoping to get a white and a green one today. and another tank if i can find a really cheap-o one. i have two males and only need one, so idk what to do with the other one. and i don't want my two barbs i have left. maybe i'll get a tiny tank for them.


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