how many fish?

[lisa264]

i have a fifteen gallon tank and was wondering if 6 Mickey Mouse platys and a couple algae eaters would be ok?? also can you give me an idea on what kind of algae eaters should i look at??

 

[HN1]

6 platies will quickly populate a 15G tank assuming they are mixed gender, but it should work as long as you can offload fry if and when the need arises. By "algae eater", what do you mean? A 15G won't be suitable for any pleco or SAEs and a new tank is inappropriate for otos. For algae eater, I'd recommend a scraper and maybe a couple snails to start with.

 

[Fishie]

I would agree with Hn1 but I heard mollys ate green algae. Snails would be good. If you got same sexed platies you could.

 

[lisa264]

ok thanks for the input...i really dont want babies and i had planned on getting all males...is that ok? and can i trust the pet store guy to lead me right after he told me nothing about setting it up and a fishless cycle, and when i asked him about adding ammonia he laughed and said you'd have to be crazy to do that...well obviously has no clue what he's talking about...when i ask for all same sex fish is he going to know???

 

[librarygirl]

ok thanks for the input...i really dont want babies and i had planned on getting all males...is that ok? and can i trust the pet store guy to lead me right after he told me nothing about setting it up and a fishless cycle, and when i asked him about adding ammonia he laughed and said you'd have to be crazy to do that...well obviously has no clue what he's talking about...when i ask for all same sex fish is he going to know???

Maybe but probably not. Do some research and figure out how to tell them apart, that way you'll know for sure.

Sexing: There are many ways to sex a Platy (these sexing methods, by the way, can be applied to all livebearers), but there are two that are more widely used than others. The first method is to observe the shape of the Platy, Females will be longer, and also have wider stomachs (even when not pregnant) than males. The second method (and most accurate) involves observing the three fins on the underbelly of the fish. Female Platy's will have three almost identical fins, two a little further up the belly (closer to the front) than the rear, and with a male, the two frontal fins will be the same, but the aft fin will be much smaller, and pointed.

the Smiley Fish

 

[Samzter]

I recommend shrimp for algae eaters .

 

[okapizebra]

I've had male platies be aggressive towards each other quite a few times. I think you'd be better off going all females.

 

[lisa264]

my platties are sooo small its too hard to see males from females but there is one in the tank that seems aggressive to the others mostly to the littlest one the runt hides around the plants alot....does anyone know how old the platys have to be before they get their color..mine are mostly orange and the pet store guy said they will get their color when they get older but i think he's a dork and doesn't know as much as he claims