Keeping male and female platies in the same tank?

[yhbae]

This question may sound strange to you, but does anyone keep a male with two or more female platies in the same tank all the time?

The reason I ask is because I've been having terrible time keeping them together in the same tank. 4 months ago, I purchased 1 male and 2 female sunburst platies, keeping them with other fishes in the community tank. Now the result is that one of the female died (due to stress, catching disease), and before she died, the other female caught the same disease and she is on her way to go opposite direction of recovering, so far... (Luckily, I have tonnes of fries of them which are growing very well).

About a month ago, I purchased 1 male and 3 female yellow platies. Again, this male seems to consistently pick on one particular female over others. Again, there's plenty of space to hide but the male seems pretty determined to follow only her. I was afraid of same thing happening so now I have a breeder tank with only females and the two males are in the community tank...

It seems rediculous that I have to deliberately split the males and females apart to keep them alive....

 

[Sinuhe]

As far as I know, most people with Platies keep both males and females in the same tank. Usually having at least 2 females per male helps, and maybe adding some hiding place, like plants, would help. I'm not sure what to do in a case like yours, tho.

 

[FlareBettaGuy]

umm...get more females, I guess. Don't get any more males. And try to get a hidey hole or some other good hiding spot in there if the plants don't do the trick.

 

[Tolak]

I have a bunch of platys, male & female in a 55. Get more rocks and things to provide a place for them to hide. I've got pieces of slate propped up by larger rocks that works out quite well for them.

The males are quite relentless in chasing the females. They breed like rabbits. I started in June with 3 platys. I now have more than 20, and just saw 2 new fry a few days ago. If I saw 2 there's probably 10!

Tolak

 

[yhbae]

I am certainly not having issues getting more fries - I just want to make sure females are healthy.

The tank contains alot of stuff including a large driftwood, so I don't think hiding is an issue. I have a pair of blue rams in the same tank and the weaker of the two gets picked on all the time, but he certainly doesn't have issues finding places to hide. I guess IQ of platy is lower than rams?

Thanks for the suggestions though...