We recently bought a 20 gallon tank and got three platties from Petsmart.When we got home we notice that we had two males and one female. We are new at this but it doesn't seem like they are fighting. Will this become a problem later? Should we return one of the males for a female? Thanks for any advice.
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- Thread starter gugu77
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Ian086
Aquarium Advice Addict
First of all, welcome to AA. Hope you enjoy!!......Did you cycle the tank before you added the fish??. If you did, then your well on your way. If not, i would check out the Fish in cycle articles on this forum. This is an essential part of having a healthy aquarium.
It is ideal to have a ratio of 3f/1m. This also means tons of babies. If you don't want fry, then i would go with all male or all female. It is extremely likely that your female is pregnant now. If you don't want any more fry then it is best to have either all male or all female...
Thanks for the welcome and answering. We haven't cycled the tank unfortunately we are a bit impatient. The fish in cycle seemed the way to go for us after reading the article. We got the API master test kit and will be doing a water change tonight.
If we get 3 males do we have to worry about aggression?
If we get 3 males do we have to worry about aggression?
Ian086
Aquarium Advice Addict
I take it then that you don't want fry. Well personally i'd go with 3 females then. I have kept 2/3 platy males before in my community with no problems. But just to be sure, i would go with 3 females....
PS... If you do go with 3 females, some pet stores keep both male and females together, so they will be pregnant. If you just let them have the fry in the tank, most, if not all will be eaten by the mother and other tank mates...
If there is plenty of hiding spots, plants(real or fake), driftwood etc, the fry will hide out in these....
The cycle imo is the hardest part of owning an aquarium. Not hard as in difficult but it's the waiting. That is why i choose the fish in cycle. I have no patience either!!!.
Ian086
Aquarium Advice Addict
Do you mean how do i look after them or what do i do when they grow??
Ian086
Aquarium Advice Addict
You can either keep them or ask you local pet store if they would take them. I am currently breeding guppies which my lfs gives me store credit for....
I not certain on this but i don't think Petsmart would give you credit. I could be wrong but i remember other members saying they don't. I have two petstores in my town, a large one and a small independent one. It's the small one i deal with...
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