Right now, you might be looking at your newly bought Platy baby and thinking of many things. One of the questions you might ask yourself might be, How big do Platy fish grow? Worrying about their growth and size is normal. And perhaps, you are deciding on the perfect tank size for when your baby Platy grows into an adult?
The size of Platy fish may vary in sex with females being larger 3 inches while males are 1-2 inches. Platy babies are small after birth (0.25 inches) and grow into full size in over 5-6 months (2-3 inches) under optimum tank conditions. Also, through selective breeding, there are platy that remain dwarf throughout its life called dwarf platy (1 inch).
If you want your Platy to grow well, I’ve listed do’s and don’ts to raise your Platy. I’ve also listed brief details on the growth of your Platy fish. Let’s start now.
So, What Is The Size Of Platy In Captivity And Wild?
When you get a general Platy fish from your local store, you’ll find that it will grow up to a maximum of 2-3 inches. The largest Platy you’ll probably ever get to see will reach 3 inches!
In the wild, Platy fish are of similar size to that in captivity. A wild Platy is around 7 cms on the maximum! The average is 4-7 centimeters.
In the gender difference, you can easily notice that female Platy are larger (2.5 inches) than male Platy (1.5 inches) as adults.
But, you might have seen an old Platy who is just over an inch. Well, as I mentioned earlier, Platy fish are bred amongst each other to create unique morphological forms. So, some Platy is bred to be a dwarf Platy. And, even the female of a Dwarf Platy is small measuring about 1 inch on the maximum!
Some Platy are bred to have large fins and tails. They appear larger than their friend Platies.
Would you like to know the size of different types of Platy as an adult? If yes, here you go!
| Dalmatian Platy | 2.5 Inches |
| Dwarf Platy | 1 inch |
| Southern Platy Female | 2.5 Inches |
| Variable Platy Female | 3 Inches |
If you are disappointed over this type, just understand that all Platies you are ever going to buy will never cross 3 inches. They’ll hover around the size of 2-3 inches!
Platy Fish Growing Stage
If you want to keep Platy in your tank, let me also tell you that Platy fish are voracious breeders. And if you keep a proper mating ratio, you’ll find hundreds of Platy babies in your tank every other month. So, Knowing about the size of your Platy fish at different stages of their life will help you take care of them.
The size of Platy fish at different stages of life are as follows:
| Week 1-4 | Fry Stage | The Platy fry is quite tiny and measures around 0.25 inches after birth.
At the end of their fry stage i.e. after 4 weeks, the fry becomes double in size since their birth. So, the fry reaches 0.50 inches in size and even more sometimes! |
| Week 4-8 | Juvenile Stage | During these weeks, the fry grows into a juvenile. A normal Juvenile fry is 1 inch in size and doesn’t grow around much. The maximum a Juvenile can grow is up to 1.5 inches. |
| Week 8-12 | Young Platy | This stage is when the young Juvenile slowly changes into an adult Platy. A young Platy will grow to the full-fledged adult almost which is around 2 inches.
Male Platy fish don’t grow after this stage. |
| Week 12+ | Adult Platy | An adult Platy measures around 2-3 inches. This is especially seen in an adult female Platy who grows up to 2.8 inches long! |
How Fast Do Platy Fish Grow?
Sometimes, Platy from the same breed will vary in size while growing up into adults. This is due to stress, dominance, disease, survival of the fittest, etc.
But, to sum up, Platy fish grow quite quickly to their full size within 6 months. Some Platy may take a year to grow into their full size but this is rare.
Reasons Why Your Platy Fish Is Not Growing Big
You might be wondering why your Platy is barely an inch even when it is an adult already. I’ve described reasons why your Platy isn’t growing below.
Bad Water Parameters
If you didn’t know, Platy fish are quite sensitive to water parameters. Keeping them in a bad tank with extreme pH, temperature, and high nitrogen levels will stress them out.
This stress can inhibit your Platy from growing any farther.
Overcrowded Tank
Like I’ve told you already, your Platy tank can get overcrowded really soon. So, if you haven’t controlled their population, high nitrogen levels, and lack of area to swim around can invite stress on your fish.
Insufficient Nutrition
Perhaps the worst thing is letting your Platy go hungry for weeks.
But wait! Fatty food like heart, beef, and so on are equally bad for the growth of fry and juvenile Platy fish.
Moreover, if you’re giving low-quality food to your Platy fry, chances are they’re not going to grow properly.
Genetics
Unlike all the reasons above which are caused by negligence, this reason is that your Platy may be bred to be a dwarf Platy!
There are dwarf platy who are bred to look cute and tiny for an aquarium.
How To Make Your Platy Fish Grow Big Fast?
Providing ideal conditions for your Platy will ensure their proportional growth in all their stages of life. You should particularly give care to your Platy fry because that’s when maximum growth happens.
For your Platy to grow properly, all you have to do is follow the instructions below.
Good Nutrition
To ensure growth in a fry and juvenile Platy, you need to provide a high-quality diet around 3-4 times a day. Only after your Platy have grown into adults should you reduce the frequency of the feeding to twice a day or even once a day. Underfeeding is okay as long as you aren’t starving your fish!
Here is how you feed your Platy fish! During each feeding, feed your Platy babies only what they can eat in under 3 minutes. If extra food remains at the end of 3 minutes, scoop that food out with a net. You wouldn’t want the extra food to decompose and foul the tank, would you?
For the food, you can give your fish natural food like egg yolks, brine shrimps, and frozen blood worms. To add variety, you can add spirulina, peas, zucchini, carrots, and similar soft veggies.
If you don’t have time to prepare this food, you can just sprinkle some high-quality flakes or pellets rich in omega and vitamins.
After this, your fry and juveniles will burst into beautiful colors and will grow in no time.
Good Water Conditions
Platy fry and juveniles are quite sensitive to water parameters in the tank.
So, you should maintain the quality of water in the tank. For this, you need to perform a 25% water change every 2 weeks or so. Also, balancing a pH of 6.8-7.8 is essential. If you can maintain the temperature of your tank to 24-26 degrees Celsius, that’d be great.
Also, cleaning the wastes from your Platy will reduce the load on plants and good bacteria. So, by using a vacuum or your bare hands, you can pick out the Platy wastes. (Note: Platy excrete lots of wastes, thanks to their voracious appetite!)
Perhaps, it is ideal if you can provide 12 hours of lighting every day. Sunlight is very much helpful for the growth of your fry and juveniles!
Proper Tank Size
Since the lack of tank space can stunt your Platy’s growth, you need to provide a suitable tank size. Especially if you are keeping dozens and hundreds of them together in your tank.
Since an adult Platy can grow up to 3 inches, you can provide 2 gallons of water for a single Platy fish. Suppose you are keeping 4 platyfish, then you need a 10+ gallon tank. This is called the gallon rule which means every inch of your Platy needs a gallon of water to swim around.
If you have one 0.25 inch platy fry in your tank, you can use a 1-gallon tank space or even a small bowl. But, if you’re keeping too many platy babies, you need a larger tank according to their size. But, too large, let’s say a 55-gallon tank for a few platy fry can be a problem when that fry can’t navigate their food and so on.
To sum up, the bigger the tank, the better! But, the calculation of the gallon rule is the best.
Maintain Ideal Mating Ratio In Your Tank
Platy fish mate very easily if you keep a male and female together. So, Since Platy fish reach sexual maturity at 3 months of age, you should identify the male Platy fish from female Platy fish and separate them.
When you separate male and female Platy fish, you reduce overpopulation as well as overcrowding.
Moreover, Platy fish can stop growing if they are subjected to pregnancy earlier in life. So, if you let your Platy pregnant at 2-3 months old, it will hamper their health and result in stunted growth.
If you really want your Platy to get babies, let the Platy mature first! Platy fish are physically ready to mate when they’re 6 months old.
FAQ
How Many Platy Fish Can I Put In A 10-Gallon Tank?
According to the gallon rule, you can fit around 4-5 adult Platy fish in your tank.
What Fish Can Live With Platy Fish?
Platy are suitable for a community tank. This means that they can live with peaceful fish like Neon Tetras, Cardinals, Danios, etc.
Conclusion
Platy fish are brilliant as pets, easy to breed, and peaceful when conditions are right. If you’ve understood the size of Platy fish in various stages of life, you can give care to your fish in the right way. This way, you can ensure your Platy grows into its full size. Happy fishkeeping.