Commercial Food for Platy Fish
- Flakes. Flakes a convenient food options for most fish. It contains the necessary combination of minerals, vitamins, vegetable matter and proteins for you fish.
- Veggie Pellets. Platy fish require vegetable in their diet. This is why it’s great to have plants in your aquarium, so your fish can graze on the algae that ...
- Freeze-Dried Foods. Freeze-dried foods are a great source of protein and an excellent alternative to live foods, when these aren’t available, or their source isn’t trustworthy.
- Frozen Foods. Frozen foods are also a good option when live foods aren’t available. ...
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 can feed adult Platys just once a day. Although it’s not generally recommended because there is some concern about the effects of this on their digestive system. Because Platys are an opportunistic feeder, constantly looking for food throughout the day, a single larger meal may not suit them.
Will platy eat courser leaved plants?
Juicy tender leaves appear to be at a higher risk from a hungry Platy intent on a snack. The tougher, courser leaved plants seem to be less of a target for Platy and so are more likely to be left alone.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 big do platys get?
The platy (Xiphophorus maculatus) grows to a maximum overall length of 7.0 cm (2.8 in). Sexual dimorphism is slight, the male's caudal fin being more pointed. The anal fin of the male fish has evolved into a gonopodium, a stick-shaped organ used for reproduction.
Can platy fish live without air pump?
Yes, platies need air pumps. Despite being very hardy, platies aren't able to survive in low-oxygen environments. Oxygen levels in normal tank water are too low to sustain platies, so an air pump is needed to further oxygenate the water.
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 should I feed my platy fry?
Feed the fry. Baby platy fish do not require different food from adults. You can feed them the same pellets or flakes that you feed the adults, as well as freeze-dried bloodworms and tubifex, and brine shrimp. Feed the fish small amounts several times a day, about as much food as they can eat in three minutes.
How do you feed platy cucumbers?
1:345:21How to feed Cucumber to Fish, Snails and Shrimp - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipI have got a pan going with boiling water and then what I'm going to do is then add in the cucumber.MoreI have got a pan going with boiling water and then what I'm going to do is then add in the cucumber.
What to feed a platy fish?
Feed your platies a high-quality flake food that’s made with natural ingredients. 2. Veggie Pellets. Platy fish require vegetable in their diet. This is why it’s great to have plants in your aquarium, so your fish can graze on the algae that naturally grows on these plants.
What is the best food for platy fry?
Daphnia, brine shrimp, vinegar eels, and micro worms can all be harvested at home. Freshly hatched cultured foods are the staple food for platy fry, which need a protein and nutrient boost to kick-start their healthy development. 3.
What do platy fry eat?
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.
How to make food for platy fish?
If you have the time, you can create food for your platies at home. Some options that are available for you include: 1. Vegetables. Vegetable matter is important for platy fish and you should strive to add it to their diet regularly. You can boil vegetables, blend them together and offer them frozen veggies.
How long can a platy fry live in an aquarium?
If you have an aged aquarium, your platy fry may survive a bit longer than 3 days if they have algae and infusoria to feed on, but it’s best to take precautionary measures if you’re away longer than 3 days.
Why is diet important for fish?
As you may know by now, diet has a very important role in maintaining a healthy immune system in your fish and aiding their proper development. Whether you’re a first-time aquarist or you’re interested in this article because you haven’t kept platies before, in this guide, I will introduce you to the feeding requirements ...
How to feed fish eggs?
Simply take out the yolk of a hard-boiled egg and crush it into a paste, feeding small portions of it to your fish. Since egg can easily foul the water, make sure you feed only a small amount once in a while. It’s also too fatty for adults, so maybe stick with feeding it to fry instead.
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.
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 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.
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.
How many babies do platies have?
In the right conditions, female platies can give birth to 20 to 50 babies per month.
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?
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 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.
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 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.
Where do platy fish live?
Platy fish are small tropical fish from the rivers of Central America. The three species of Platies inhabit different rivers of South America: The Southern Platy inhabits the freshwaters of Mexico, Guatemala and northern Honduras. the Variable Platy fish is native to the southern waters of Mexico, from Rio Panuco to Rio Cazones.
Do Platy Fish Eat Veggies?
The short answer is “yes.” Well, Platy fish will eat veggies. But that’s not the only thing they’ll eat!
What Veggies Should You Feed the Platy Fish?
You can feed many veggies to Platy fish, but they have some preferences, and their favorites tend to change as they grow older.
How To Prepare Veggies For Your Platy Fish?
Now, let’s talk about how to prepare veggies for your Platy fish. First, you need to determine what types of vegetables are safe for your pet and then decide how to feed them.
How many veggies Should You Feed Your Platy Fish?
A good rule to follow is to feed your fish as many veggies as they can eat within two minutes, but no more than three minutes. Afte r
How To Handle Floating Vegetables?
If any vegetables float on water, then it’s best to feed them with some ee sort of weight on them.
Can You Feed Frozen And Canned Veggies To Your Platy Fish?
Unfortunately, no, you cannot fee frozen or canned vegetables to your fish. This is because canned veggies often contain preservatives, and the freezing process destroys most of the nutritional value.
Why Should You Feed Vegetables To Platy Fish?
Platy fish are omnivores. Therefore you need to feed them with both meat and vegetables.
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.