Too many male Platies!!

[Tanks a 1ot]

I did have two platies, one male one female so I recently added two more of what i thought were female palties. Turns out one is male so now i have two males to two females compunding my problem. So to get the right balance i need to add two, three or even four females. If i add that amount at once it may upset the tank after alrady adding two fish. What should i do? i'm thinking of putting one male in my emergency tank for the time being and add one female. Then after a couple weeks add another female etc, etc. Am i being too coutious? should i just put the females straight in? Will the harassed female get too stressed if i leave the tank as is? Any suggestions welcome!!

 

[Mattyfelts]

tank size?

 

[pls1210]

I am in the same predicament so I am curious as to what ppl recommend. My lfs gave me two males and two females well one of the females died so now the two males are harassing the one female.

 

[Mattyfelts]

return them honestly, personally I started with live bearers and have grown to dislike them due to the rapid overpopulation they cause


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[44Paps44]

Tank size is going to matter. Anything else populating the tank?

But yes, your female is likely to be harrassed to death by the males. Adding even more will likely result in a population explosion that you will need to have a contingency plan for.

 

[Tanks a 1ot]

tank size is 120L.
Thanks.

 

[Tanks a 1ot]

Other than the platies all i have is an oranda. It may be a blackmoor but i cant tell the difference. So my tank is pretty bear a tthe moment. Any suggestion on the contingency?
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mattyfelts]

platies and goldfish have different teperature requirments. seperate them, tropical fish need a temperature of 78-80 *F and gold fish need cooler water.

 

[sinibotia]

Yeah, seperate the goldfish and the tropicals. Honestly, if you watch your water carefully and have Prime water conditioner on hand in case ammonia shows, you should be fine adding 4 fish at once. I just added 20 (very small) fish simultaneously to a 20 gallon tank, with no losses or ammonia spikes (thanks, fishless cycling!). Not recommended, but if you watch your water conditions carefully it can be done.

 

[pls1210]

Just curious because I'm a newby but how does cold water affect the platies? Will it kill them or will they just be unhappy? My tank stays around 73 degrees and I have had platies for going on 2 months. I don't want to do anything to kill them.

 

[Mattyfelts]

Just curious because I'm a newby but how does cold water affect the platies? Will it kill them or will they just be unhappy? My tank stays around 73 degrees and I have had platies for going on 2 months. I don't want to do anything to kill them.

can kill them, cause health problems, it isnt right for them simply..

they are from tropical waters so why put them in cold water that they shouldnt be in.

 

[pls1210]

Every article I have read says water from 72-79 degrees is ideal for them.

 

[Mattyfelts]

they are a tropical fish and should be kept at tropical fish temperatures ranging from 76/77-80*F

 

[Noviceafter2yea]

I did have two platies, one male one female so I recently added two more of what i thought were female palties. Turns out one is male so now i have two males to two females compunding my problem. So to get the right balance i need to add two, three or even four females. If i add that amount at once it may upset the tank after alrady adding two fish. What should i do? i'm thinking of putting one male in my emergency tank for the time being and add one female. Then after a couple weeks add another female etc, etc. Am i being too coutious? should i just put the females straight in? Will the harassed female get too stressed if i leave the tank as is? Any suggestions welcome!!

Heads up - females reproduce like mad. I started out with 3 - they were all,supposed to be female. They were not. Turns out I had one male, two females. Even if I didn't have a male, chances are the females came pregnant from the fish store and they store sperm for a long time.

Needless to say, I have had over 50 fry (babies). Luckily, I was able to rehome 30 of them to the fish store employee for her private tank. I still have 20 and they will surely multiply. They are super cute, but I can't and don't want to keep up with the exponential offspring.

I would never kill them and don't know what to do. I know I get attached to my fish quickly, but if you aren't, you may want to consider finding a new home. Otherwise your post will go from too many males to too many.

Good luck!

 

[Mattyfelts]

for future reference the pelvic fin is a great indicator on sex.


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[BBradbury]

Your Fish

Hello Tank...

You just need to heavily plant the surface area of the tank. It's difficult to tell the difference in the sexes when it comes to Platys. I keep Black and Red Wags and have trouble telling them apart. To avoid bulling problems, I introduced a lot of Hornwort and Pond weed into the tank. The bullied fish swim into the mass of plants and the bully loses them. The bullied fish calm down fairly quickly. Platys are a very hardy species, just put in the plants and the fish should be fine.

I don't know the size of your tank. I keep these fish in a minimum 45 gallon. The rest are in a couple of 55s and a 60.

B