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How to look afterXiphophorus maculatus

Platy

(Guenther, 1866)

(Other members of the genus Xiphophorus)

ADULT SIZE: 6 cm

WATER CONDITIONS: Moderately hard and alkaline

TEMPERATURE RANGE: 21-25 C

FOOD: Feed Xiphophorus maculatus small live-foods and fine grade dried foods. Some vegetable component to the diet is welcomed.

DISTRIBUTION: This species comes from Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

AQUARIUM CARE: The platy is an all-time aquarium favourite, with very many varieties and colour forms. It is very easy to keep and breed in slightly harder water. Males can be a little aggressive towards females, and in order to avoid over-stressing them it is a good idea to have 2-3 females for each male, and/or ample hiding places to allow the females some respite from the male’s attentions. If fry are to be raised this cover can also improve survival chances, giving them somewhere to escape predation from their parents and other fish.

Fry are produced every three weeks or so, and the females can actually store sperm to fertilize eggs even with no male present.

The Platy is an ideal community species; peaceful, hardy and easy to keep and breed. Platies will interbreed readily with swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri) but generally not other livebearers.

BREEDING: No special treatment is required to breed the platy, and they will give birth to offspring about every three weeks. They are livebearing fish (they give birth to fish, rather than lay eggs), and the fry are big enough to eat powdered flake food. They prefer, and grow more quickly on, newly hatched artemia nauplii. Heavily pregnant females can be placed in a breeding trap, or another small tank, and removed once she has given birth – other fish will eat young livebearer fry.

Have you bred Xiphophorus maculatus? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?, or examine existing Xiphophorus maculatus breeding reports

This orange platy is one of many colour forms, that are much brighter than the wild fish

A terrific black platy

Have you bred Xiphophorus maculatus? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?

This page summarises breeding reports provided by visitors to this site, along with some statistical analysis. Please feel free to contribute – whatever your experience!

6 breeders have filled in breeding reports, a summary of the results are shown in the graphs below. You can read the full reports here.

To add details of your experiences of Xiphophorus maculatus, why not fill in a Breeding and maintenance Report.

Remember, each record represents only one persons experience; if you had different results, or used different methods, please share your experiences

Water conditions: Moderately hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27^oC
Disposition: Slightly timid	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Other (see below)	Breeding problems: Skewed sex ratio
Sex ratio: Almost all males	Breeding difficulty: Difficult
Sucess: Very unsucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 24th February 2013	Breeding date: 2013
Breeder:	Location:

Water conditions:	Water temperature:
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Adult fish removed from tank	Breeding problems: Poor fry survival rate
Sex ratio: Somewhat male heavy	Breeding difficulty: Average
Sucess: Fairly unsucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments: This is a great fish for any one, they are fairly easy to maintain and if your intrested in breeding any type of fish I suggest giving these plattys the first go round. When I started breeding fish I could never tell if they were pregnant or not so I went out and found see thru fish. HAHA It makes the whole experiance a whole lot better watching them grow inside. I raise mickey mouse plattys and have had a blast.
Date this record created: 3rd March 2009	Breeding date: 2009
Breeder: Adam	Location: Poland, Maine

Water conditions: Neutral	Water temperature: 24-27^oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Other (see below)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Fairly sucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 21st April 2008	Breeding date: 2008
Breeder: kitty bearer	Location: lu1

Water conditions: Moderately hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27^oC
Disposition: Somewhat aggresive on occasions	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: Poor fry survival rate
Sex ratio:	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Average	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments: very easy, but before you know it, your tank has too many fish, and disease can set in. Best to distribute fry to other aquarists early on
Date this record created: 6th February 2008	Breeding date: 2000
Breeder: lungfish	Location:

Water conditions: Moderately hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27^oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio:	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 3
Other Comments: Platys are no problem to breed. I was quickly overrun with platys I had no room for
Date this record created: 13th January 2008	Breeding date: 1995
Breeder:	Location:

Water conditions: Moderately soft and acidic	Water temperature: 24-27^oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Only with species of similar size
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: Poor fry survival rate
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Average
Sucess: Fairly sucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 13th January 2008	Breeding date: 2008
Breeder:	Location: