What Veggies Should You Feed the Platy Fish?
- Cucumber (Peeled)
- Zucchini (Peeled)
- Carrots (Peeled)
- Green Cabbage (Cut Up into Bite-Size Pieces)
- Peas
- Romaine Lettuce
- Green Beans
- Bell Peppers (Cut Into Bite Size Pieces)
What can I Feed my platy fish?
Crush flake foods into a powder, make a paste out of vegetables, and feed them freshly hatched live foods like baby brine shrimp, vinegar eels, daphnia, or micro worms. Remember that there isn’t a single food group that will work best for platy fish and that variety is the key to ensuring the best results in meeting their nutritional requirements.
How often should I Feed my platy?
You should feed your platies no more than once or twice a day with an amount they can finish in a couple of minutes. Overfeeding can be an issue with platies, especially because they have such a good appetite and they always seem willing to get just one more bite of food.
What do you do with platy fry when they grow up?
Since platy fish can quickly overpopulate an aquarium, it’s important that you have a plan in place for what to do with the fry as they grow and mature. Platy fish fry reach sexual maturity at 4 months of age, so you’ll either want to give them to someone else or move them to their own tank before they reach 4 months.
What kind of water do platies like?
They also enjoy harder water, so if your tap water is especially soft, consider adding more minerals using Seachem Equilibrium or Wonder Shell. We also like to keep our platies with live aquarium plants to help consume some of the organic waste produced by the fish.
How often do you feed a platy fish?
As adults, you'll be able to feed these fish just once a day like most other mature fish, which makes them generally easy to keep happy. In the wild, it's common for a platy to go without food for a day or two, so if you plan on going away overnight and are concerned about them starving, there's no need to be.
Will platys eat goldfish flakes?
Goldfish food includes a higher amount of cereal content vegetable content with protein. But, if you are feeding goldfish food to platys, make sure to select food with minimum cereal content. High cereal content is not good for the platy diet. Always pick goldfish food with an increased range of vegetables and protein.
What does platy fish eat in nature?
Diet and Feeding In the wild, platies are omnivores. They will graze on algae and plant material they find as well as eating insects, larvae, fish eggs, fry and any other small critter they can find.
What do platys like in their tank?
Platy fish prefer water on the alkaline side. Plants should be hardy and able to tolerate similar water conditions. Ideal plants include hornwort, duckweed, and java moss. Create the ideal environment with plants, a gentle filtration system, and clean water with moderate hardness.
What is the lifespan of a platy fish?
The typical platy fish lifespan is between three to five years when kept in optimal conditions.
How many platies should be kept together?
At least three to five platies should be kept together. Platy fish are shoaling fish. They may not form a close-knitted group like schooling fish, but they still seek safety and comfort in numbers. A small group of three to five platies will be a great starting point for beginner fishkeepers with limited space.
How do you make platys happy?
Platies can live in a 10- to 20-gallon aquarium or larger. Most livebearers prefer higher pH, but platies can tolerate a very wide range from 6.8-8.5 in our experience. They also enjoy harder water, so if your tap water is especially soft, consider adding more minerals using Seachem Equilibrium or Wonder Shell.
How long until platies are full grown?
Once they have grown large enough to fend for themselves, you can move the young fish to the community tank with the older fish. Platy reach full size after about four months.
How do you play with platys?
1:255:47Platy Fish Tank Mates - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo you'll definitely want to make sure to keep them in groups of six or more and to avoid damagingMoreSo you'll definitely want to make sure to keep them in groups of six or more and to avoid damaging the barbells. You'll also want to make sure that you avoid substrate with jagged edges.
How do I know if my platys are happy?
Your fish are happy and healthy when they:Swim actively throughout the entire tank, not just hanging out or laying at the bottom, floating near the top or hiding behind plants and ornaments.Eat regularly and swim to the surface quickly at feeding time.More items...
How can you tell what gender a platy is?
Look closely at your platy's underside, and note the two fins protruding from its belly. The fin in the rear, or anal fin, is called the gonopodium. In female platys this fin is shaped like a fan. If your platy is male, however, the gonopodium will be pointy, flat and long.
How many platys can go in a 5 gallon tank?
How Many Platies In A Tank?Size of the TankNumber of Platy Fish5 Gallon3 male, or 2 female10 Gallon6 male, or 4 female20 Gallon13 male, or 8 female30 Gallon20 male, or 12 female4 more rows•Aug 26, 2021
Can you mix goldfish with platys?
Though it might seem strange to recommend a small livebearer for a goldfish tank, Platies are chunky enough to avoid being eaten. They're also placid and unlikely to nip at your goldfish.
Can platy fish eat pellets?
Platy fish are omnivores, which means they will eat food that originates from both plants and animals. This includes most pellets, flakes, freeze dried foods, frozen foods, fruits, vegetables and even cooked and unseasoned meat. In other words, platies will eat pretty much anything you feed them.
Can platies eat betta food?
Feeding platies is similar to feeding bettas. You can feed them anything you feed your betta.
What happens if you eat goldfish flakes?
You may not die from eating the fish, but the parasites are dangerous to humans. Eating goldfish can transmit intestinal worms and mycobacteria, which causes Fish-Handler's Disease.
What Do Platy Fish Eat In The Wild?
Platy fish come from different habitats depending on the type of Platy fish. For example, some types are mostly found in rivers, while others live near ponds and lakes.
What Do Platy Fish Eat?
This question has plagued many pet owners, and it’s one of the most important parts of caring for your fish.
So, What Can You Feed Your Pet Platy Fish?
Before we get into what you can feed your pet platies, it’s important to understand that not all foods are safe for every fish. You should never give food to a fish if you aren’t 100% sure of its safety and nutritional value!
Live Food For Platy Fish
You can feed your pet Platy fish a variety of live foods like daphnia and earthworms. If you’re feeding them plants with the thought that they will eat algae or leftovers from other aquarium inhabitants’ diets, then keep in mind that these won’t provide enough nutrition for your fish unless you’re feeding them mostly plants.
Can You Give Commercial Food To Your Platy Fish?
Most commercial pet foods are not healthy for platies and usually contain fillers such as wheat, soy, or corn. Many of these filler ingredients can make your fish obese and sickly over time.
Homemade Food For Your Platy Fish
One way to ensure that you’re feeding your fish an optimal diet is to make their food yourself.
What Do Platy Fry Eat?
As soon as baby platies are born, they become interested in eating! As long as their parents aren’t too aggressive and you feed them enough brine shrimp nauplii (baby brine shrimp), your fry can eat right away.
What temperature do platies need to be?
Most platies do well with temperatures from 70-82°F, but if your air conditioning is set on full blast, you may want to consider getting an aquarium heater. However, variatus platies are accustomed to living in cooler waters and do not require extra heating when kept at room temperature.
What are the different types of platy fish?
What are the different platy fish types? New colors and patterns are constantly being produced, but some of the most popular varieties include Mickey Mouse, sunburst, red wag, blue, bumblebee, and green lantern platies. How big do platys get?
How many gals can a platy fish live in?
How Do You Set up a Platy Fish Tank? Platies can live in a 10- to 20-gallon aqua rium or larger. Most livebearers prefer higher pH, but platies can tolerate a very wide range from 6.8-8.5 in our experience.
How many babies do platies have?
In the right conditions, female platies can give birth to 20 to 50 babies per month.
How much does a platy fish cost?
How much do platy fish cost? Platies are relatively inexpensive and can be found at fish stores for $2 to $4 each, depending on the type.
Where do platy fish live?
Platies are a popular livebearer in the freshwater aquarium hobby that are native to Mexico and Central America. The two species most commonly available in fish stores are Xiphophorus maculatus (southern platyfish) and Xiphophorus variatus (variable or variatus platy). They can crossbreed with each other and with swordtail species, ...
How to keep fish water quality high?
To keep the water quality high, you can give the excess fish to your friends or donate them to a pet store. If you're interested in breeding fish for profit, consider selling the offspring to a local fish store.
How many fry can a platy fish eat?
Generally, females can have up to 80 fry.
What are the different types of platy?
Popular varieties from the Variable Platy are Redtail, Yellowtail, Sunset, Rainbow, Hawaii and the Marigold Platy.
Why is the swordtail Platy called the Spike Tail?
The Swordtail Platy still remains a rare specimen. This fish is also called the Spike Tail Platy, due to the shape of its fins. All Platies are hardy fish but have a relatively short life span.
What is a platy fish?
Platy fish are small, laterally flattened fish, with small short fins and a tail shaped like a fan. There have been many hybrids and variations cross-bred from the Southern and Variable Platy. Occasionally, the rarer Swordtail Platy has also been interbred to create more variations in colors and fin shapes.
What are the colors of a platy?
Platies colors vary a lot. A few popular colors are red, yellow, white, blue and green. Often, the different colorations were due to their natural habitat.
How big do Platy fish get?
There are small size differences between the different species. Female Southern Platy fish reach up to 2.5 inches while the Variable Platy reaches 3 inches. Males are always slightly smaller than the females.
What kind of fish are good companions for a tank?
Small peaceful fish are the perfect tank companions, especially with species that are loosely related such as Mollies, Guppies or Swordtails. They also get along well with other similar size and temperament fish such as Corydoras, Tetras, Characins, Gouramis, small peaceful barbs and obviously other Platy Fish.
What are some good foods for platy juveniles?
Cultured live foods: A major benefit of these foods is that they’re rich in protein and highly nutritious for platy juveniles. Baby brine shrimp, microworms, vinegar eels, daphnia, etc.; Egg yolk paste: Take the yolk of a hard-boiled eggs and crush it into a paste.
What to put in a baby platy aquarium?
You can add java moss, hornwort, guppy grass or other plants to provide coverage for your platies.
Why shouldn't you breed platy fry?
Because they’re very small when they’re born, platy fry are at a risk of being mistaken for food by adult fish. This is the reason why you shouldn’t breed platies in a community aquarium and set up a separate breeding tank, which you can manage much easier.
How many babies can a female platy fry release?
Aquarium Size. Platy juveniles are indeed small, but that doesn’t mean they should be kept in a small aquarium, especially that a female platy can release as many as 80 babies at a given time.
How are platy fish born?
How Platies Are Born? Platy fish reach reproductive age at 5-6 months of age. Unlike egg-layer fish, the female platy will carry the eggs in her belly and release the eggs only when they hatch, thus, giving birth to live fish.
How long do platys carry eggs?
On average, the female platy will carry the eggs for 24-30 days, but sometimes it can take a bit longer, especially if tank conditions aren’t suitable (e.g. the female platy is stressed out). Platies give birth to 20 to 80 juveniles at one time, so expect a significant boost in the population of your aquarium.
How long can you keep platys in a breeding box?
A breeding box is a temporary solution and you shouldn’t keep platy juveniles in it longer than 2 weeks. At the 2-weeks mark platy juveniles are large enough to no longer be mistaken for food and can be released into the main tank or placed into their own tank.
What do platy fish eat?
1. Use commercial fish food for the majority of your platy fishes' diet. In the wild, platy fish eat live organisms, like worms, insects, and crustaceans, as well as some plant matter. However, in captivity, platy fish thrive on mostly commercial fish flakes or pellets.
How to get a platy fish?
1. Get an aquarium tank that holds at least 29 gallons (110 L). Although platy fish don't require a lot of space, it's a good idea to get a bigger tank than you need if you plan on breeding them. That way, as your platy fish start to reproduce and the fry grow into adults, your tank won't get overcrowded.
How to keep platy fish alive?
Also, your adult platy fish will enjoy having some sheltered resting places as well. Try to use live aquarium plants to replicate the platy fishes' natural environment. Include floating plants in the tank, which make great hiding places for young fry.
How to keep platy fish from eating older fish?
Add plants and hiding places to the tank so your platy fish have shelter. Providing shelter is especially important when you're breeding platy fish since the young fry will need places to hide from the adults. Without enough shelter, the young fry may be eaten by your older fish.
What to feed a small fry?
5. Feed the fry commercial baby fish food and baby brine shrimp. Baby fish food usually consists of pulverized flakes that are easy for the small fry to eat. You should also supplement their diet with baby brine shrimp, similar to how you supplement your adult platy fishes' diet.
What to feed a worm tank?
Just make sure these foods aren't making up the majority of their diet. For meat-based foods, try live or frozen brine shrimp, tubifex, or blood worms. For vegetables, try zucchini, broccoli florets, or cauliflower. Just make sure you use organic vegetables and wash them thoroughly before adding them to the tank.
Can you use a sponge filter on a platy fish tank?
However, make sure you use an air-powered sponge filter since other types of aquarium filters can suck up and kill small fry.
