Sexing my new platys

[OceanMaiden]

Hello All!! I'm new to this site and thought I'd ask the experts in here about my brand new platys. I'd like to get a breeding pair but I can't tell guy from gal yet. I have a sneaky suspicion the petstore gave me two boys. Do the males have a long thin fin right in between their two little triangle fins on their bottom midsection. Both my platies have this feature, so if they are both boys, I'm definitely not going to get any babies!! lol Also the bigger of the two keeps chasing the smaller around, trying to establish tank dominance maybe?? Any help would be apreciated. Thanks a bunch!!

 

[dskidmore]

Helpful advice here: http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=59092&highlight=platy

On many livebeareres, there is also a "gravid spot" on the female, just behind the stomach it shows as a dark spot, that darkens and swells as the babies inside develop, then goes pale right after birth.

The chaseing could be dominance, it could be mating ritual. The males will chase the females around.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Thanks for your help. I'm going to go to the pet store and get two or three females and a male. Hopefully the aquariest at the store knows which is which and can show me. My father picked up my first two platys as a gift. All the information I got out of him was Uhhh I dont know hun. He just grabbed them and left. lol Gotta love him though.

I'm going to get a blue male and red females and maybe I'll get PURPLE babies!! That would be so sweet!! Wish me luck!!

 

[dskidmore]

How large is your tank?

Your more likely to get red & blue babies than purple babies, but good luck with it!

Heads up: The fish will eat thier own young, so if you are sucessful at breeding them, you need a breeder net or a second aquarium to hold the babies.

 

[OceanMaiden]

10 gallon I believe its pretty huge....It is to me lol I'll borrow my dads tape measure tomorrow to give you exacts. I can put a little divider in or get one of those net things? My best bet would be to get another tank though for fry. Oh yeah what all can you feed them? If I have enough thick vegatation in my tank would they be able to hide in that?

 

[dskidmore]

Thick vegitation will increase the survival rate of fry. Floating hornwort is highly recomended. I use floating water sprite even when I seperate the fry, as it gives them a safe zone and encourages them to swim up off the bottom, so they can catch more food as it's falling.

Powdered flake food will do, liquid fry foods, newly hatched brine shrimp, daphnia, or infusoria cultures are better in the first few weeks of life. As a beginner, you may want to stick to powdering your flake food or buying pre-prepared liquid food. Culturing your own live food can be very frustrating at first. Feed the smallest amount you can, frequently. They have very tiny stomachs at that age, and can't eat much, most of the food will go to waste. I keep snails in my floating breeder to eat the scraps that fall to the bottom. (Don't bother buying snails, you'll almost certianly get some free when you buy your first plant.)

Most tank dividers have fairly large holes that fry could swim through. Look for something specifically advertised for breeding. You pretty much have the option of a couple kinds of boxes or a net.

 

[OceanMaiden]

My water appears cloudy towards the top of the tank....ummm is this the flourescent lighting messing with my head or what?? It looks fine from there down. The cloudy is a really light milky white, kind of like the color of the light bulbs light. I do water changes and it is still there.

 

[dskidmore]

How long have you had this tank?

Do you have an ammonia test kit?

Did you add those extra fish already? If not, hold off and stick with only what you have for now. Your tank is probably not ready to support so many fish yet.

 

[OceanMaiden]

My tank is going on four weeks old. The fish I have I added at about 3 and a half weeks. That was the 12th of this month. I also used a bit of biozyme when I first established my tank. Also I didn't notice this cloudy stuff until after I switched from the incadescent bulb to the flourescent. Maybe its the lighting but then again maybe its something this light can pick up and the other couldnt, kind of like stuff you cant see in regular light until you hold a black light up to it. Is there a water declouding tablet available, lol that would be simple wouldnt it. I also heard rumors that the white is a kind of hexotrophic bacteria and that its not too terribly dangerous to your fish but that there was something you could put in the tank to get rid of it. However I didnt catch what the product was you were supposed to use.

 

[OceanMaiden]

I will get an ammonia tester kit and wait until I figure out this weird dilemma befor I add any more new fish buddies to my tank. Just need to know what the cloudy is now lol.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Ok no laughing seriously.......( lol).....I turned the hood light off on the tank and ummm the water isnt cloudy at the top anymore , until I turn the light back on. I feel like a noob boob lmao. Oh well better to be looking out for everything just to keep it in top shape rather than ignoring a potential problem. ; )

 

[dskidmore]

New Tank Syndrome. Don't worry too much, you can do a 50% water change and it will help. Get the ammonia kit, and do as many water changes as necessary to keep the ammonia level below .5, then add some prime, aquamel or other ammonia detoxifier for the fish's comfort.

What is happening is that the bacteria that feed on fish waste are multiplying rapidly. In time, they will attach to surfaces like the gravel and filter media, so you won't see them, but for now they are in the water. We don't want to get rid of them, they are turning the highly toxic ammonia into less toxic nitrite, and then again into much less toxic nitrate. Basicly, they are keeping your fish alive.

Hopefully the Biozyme has kept your ammonia from climbing during this time, but many people find that it is not effective in thier aquariums.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Ok so keep up the water change regimen and watch for ammonia spikes...keep ammonia dowwwn. But the bacteria is good bio spira, so dont kill it. Gotcha. I will wait until everything is in tip top working order before adding more fish then. Thanks!!