My Swordtail/Platy and More!

Here's my male swordtail/platy cross! I call him Red Cherry, since he looks like a big red cherry! Isn't he beautiful?

Another . . .

Here's my female platy, Sundance! She's a great poser for the camera!

Look how the guys show their affection to Sundance (she's the one at the bottom.) Even through there are 12 other female platies, they chose to go after her!

Sundance followed by my swordtail/platy, Cherry!

Now they're hiding from the camera . . .

Last one! Cherry chasing Sundance in a game of tag!

adorable platties sasha!

I'm new to this fish hobby. When I went to the pet store I fell in love with the platties, I have one swordstail and two mickey mouse platties. Got them two weeks ago. They're in a large fish bowl right now...i will get an aquarium next friday.

My question is, how do you take care of your platties? How are they like? What environment must they be in to survive?

Also since you mentioned you have like 12 females, how do you deal w/ their fry? My mickey mouse platty...named her Boo, gave birth to 11 four days ago. Got a smaller fish ball for them, for now. How do you take care of them?

Whatever you could share w/ me (advice/suggestions) will be appreciated.

Thanks

sundance..is.....beutiful..and she is prego!!!

Thanks!

lovemeplatties: You sure sound like you're interested in platies, and I would gladly answered your questions. Platies are easy to care for. I don't feed mine flakes, since they don't contain a lot of nutrition. I feed all my fish frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, which is more healthier for them. To avoid overfeeding, I give the food three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Platies have great personalities and are peaceful fish. Mine always beg for attention! I would recommend keeping platies in a tank that is at least ten gallons or larger. Their environment should have some sort of retreat for them, some plants and decorations. I have 13 females platies and 4 male platies. In fact, I'm not overloaded with platy fry! I only have two! I just added 3 new male platies, so I'm hoping that they would start breeding. Sundance seems to be very popular because she's attracting the males a lot.

I always loved fry and their care is actually very simple. The parents would eat the fry, so be sure to separate them or if you want to leave in the main tank, provide a lot of hiding places. I prefer to put the fry in either a breeder net or a fry tank to increase their survival. Remember, the more space you give them the faster the would grow. For the first week, I feed them a special powder called, "First Bites" 4-5 times a day. When they're older, I give them crushed flakes and bloodworms about 3-4 times a day. About a month or two in age, I start feeding them frozen food like their parents eat. At that age, I feed them 1-2 times a day. My two month old platy fry eat when the adults eat: 3 times a week.

Here's a picture of my two month old platy fry, Pebbles.

Oh Red Cherry is gorgeous Sasha! I hope my platies and swords breed so I can get a pretty fishy like that. Sundance is adorable and Pebbles is the cutest little thing.

I love livebearers.