Sexing baby platies

[Fiori]

I have 5 baby platies, about 7 weeks old now and growing like weeds. They look like they are all female, but I wondered if this was an accurate observation or if they are not quite fully developed yet

How old do they have to be before you can accurately sex them?

 

[sunflower]

From what I remember my fry were between 8 and 10 weeks old before I could tell for sure.

 

[sylvia]

You are correct in your assumption - they do take a while to fully develop. Unfortunately I can't answer your question. Different individuals develop at different rates and you'll find some apparently female fish will develop gonopodiums when apparently fully grown - these usualy turn out to be the largest males and are often mistaken for females.

 

[Fiori]

Thanks folks - I guess I'll need to wait and see - the suspense is killing me!!

 

[teacherspet]

Interesting! All of my platy fry have been female! I keep thinking they are going to eventually change, but I got my first platy about 7 months ago, and I end up with about 2 fry that live each month, and to date, they are all felmae. I thought maybe there was something in the water

 

[Angry_Platy]

The pH of the water determines the sex of the platy fry. I can't remember which was it goes....

All platies look like female...it is when they are a bit older that the anal fin starts to fold up forming the male gonopodium. I also notice that females of the same age look larger than those who end up being male.

 

[sunflower]

The pH of the water determines the sex of the platy fry. I can't remember which was it goes....

So how come I ended up with both male and female fry from the same batch?

 

[Fiori]

Hmm - my tank pH is sitting at 6 - I wonder if that will make a difference then

 

[sylvia]

I don't think it's been agreed that pH deffinately effects sex. I know it does in some species but you'll have to wait and see with your platies.

 

[Fiori]

I reckon that's part of the fun - wait and see