If you are a novice fish owner looking for fish to breed, look no more! Platy fish is what you’re searching for. Listen, I had Platies in my tank a few years ago. And, making Platy fish mate was the easiest task I had to do in all these years of fishkeeping!
Anyway, your observation skills should be brilliant if you have set up your platies to mate. This is because Platies mate quickly.
In this article, I will guide you on how you can mate your Platy fish, know if your Platies have mated, and make ideal conditions in your tank for mating. Now, let’s get started.
Just keeping male and female platyfish in a tank will make them breed. But, to induce breeding frequency, maintain optimum water parameters like frequent water change, 7-8.3 pH, 72-78 F water temperature. And, let 1 male breed with multiple females to maintain harmony in the tank.
Platies Are Livebearers
Livebearer fish are those fish that directly give birth to fry. These fish don’t lay eggs. The fertilization and growth of fish happen inside the uterus of the fish. Unlike other fish who lay eggs and do external fertilization.
After a variable period of 28 days, livebearers give birth to fry directly.
Among the livebearers, platies also directly give birth to fry.
Moreover, livebearers don’t have any parental instinct towards their young. So, platies readily eat up their fry after birth.
Identify The Gender
If you are mating Platy fish, you should know the difference between males from females. But how will you know the difference as a beginner?
Well, do not worry. I’ve discussed the differences below.
Sexual Dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the difference between males and females. You can easily notice that dimorphism in Platy fish is well pronounced.
For instance, Male Platies are:
- Smaller than female Platy.
- Blessed with a gonopodium. Gonopodium is an anal fin. Males use this anal fin to direct the sperm into the female Platy to conceive fries.
- Energetic and sometimes, aggressive.
- Found teasing the female Platies.
And, Female Platies are:
- Heavier and also has a rounded abdomen.
- The anal fin of the female platy is fan-shaped and wider.
- Submissive compared to male Platies.
Note: The sexual dimorphism is well pronounced after 4 months of the birth of platy fry. This means that Platy fry is ready to reproduce after they are 4 months old.
Keep More Females Than Males (Mating Ratio)
Once you can differentiate males from females, it’s time to understand the mating ratio.
The mating ratio means the number of male to female platies you need to keep for breeding. This is important because Platies aren’t what you think they are. Well, let me divulge this: Platy fish are polygamous!
It is seen that male Platies have high sexual drive. So, if male to female ratio is 1:1, the males will constantly harass the female. Eventually, the female gets stressed out and may even die.
By keeping two or more females to a single male platyfish, that harassment is dispersed. Yeah, I know, all livebearers are the same.
To sum up, the ideal ratio is 1 male to every 2-3 female Platy fish.
The Behavior Of Mating Platies
I found it rather endearing to see the Platies mate in my tank. I’d kept 1 male and 3 females in the breeding tank. The male constantly followed the females around and got all 3 of them impregnated in 1 day!
Let me not beat around the bush further and tell you more about how Platy fish behave while mating.
Pre-mating Act
You know that platyfish are livebearers, right? So, the female platy undergo internal fertilization. This may be the reason why the males constantly chase the female to deposit his sperm inside the female.
Maybe the chasing occurs because male platies have high sexual drive too. The chasing becomes so severe, most frequently, turning into aggression.
The female platies are alright though. They act calm and submissive. The female may also go around poking the male playfully.
How Do Platy Fish Mate?
After sexually developing at 4 months, Platy fish are ready for mating. Platy fish promptly mate if they are given ideal tank conditions that mimic their natural habitat.
After the premating act, Platy fish finally start to mate by a method called spawning!
Spawning means when the male Platy deposits his sperm in the water near the female’s anal fin. Then, with the help of the male’s elongated anal fin (gonopodium), he directs the sperm into the female’s anal fin.
After the sperm is deposited inside the female, the female gametes fertilize with the sperm. Thus, the female Platy gets pregnant this way.
After spawning and getting pregnant, your Platy fish directly births fry at 28 days. She may deliver as many as 40-50 babies. But, the number may vary depending on how much care you’ve provided in your tank, water parameters, etc.
How To Know If Your Platy Fish Have Mated Successfully?
You have kept the Platies in your breeding tank. You have maintained water parameters, mating ratio, everything to make the breeding process easier. But, how will you know if your Platy fish have mated successfully?
Well. The first thing is to check for pregnancy in your Platy. Platies are livebearers so the development of fries happens INSIDE the uterus of the Platy fish.
Now, you can notice the belly of your fish getting larger as days pass on. If you check near her anal fin, you can notice a dark hue which is her gravid spot. You can also see the eyes of the fry from the gravid spot.
A pregnant Platy fish has a squared belly if you look from the front. Kind of like this: \___/. This is contrary to the popular belief that a pregnant belly is rounded like this: (___).
If your platy finds a clean place in the aquarium and hides behind plants, chances are, she is trying to deliver babies.
Well, this is too obvious. But, if your platy has given birth to fry directly, I guarantee your platyfish have mated. Platy fish take 28 days to conceive fry.
Maintaining Ideal Tank Conditions For Inducing Platy Fish To Mate
For breeding Platies, it will be better to buy a separate breeding tank of 30 gallons. This same tank can be used to house the fries too.
If you want to get only a breeding tank, then 10 gallons for 4 Platies will be perfect; the mating ratio should be perfect of course.
Here’s a little secret: You can slightly tweak the water parameters to induce mating. I heard someone use crushed coral to increase the water hardness of the breeding tank. They said that this can induce the spawning of Platies.
So, I crushed some corals and dropped them in my tank. After that, my Platies became active and started mating immediately.
Moreover, you can heavily plant the tank to provide privacy to your fish. Speaking from experience, I’ve seen Platy fish go behind plants to mate.
Other water parameters you should maintain to induce breeding are:
- A temperature of 72-78 degrees Fahrenheit.
- A pH of 7.0 -8.3.
- A dG of 10-28.
- Change the water 25% every two weeks.
How Can You Stop Platy Fish From Mating?
If you want to, you can build an entire colony of Platy fish in a few months. But, not everyone has feasible sources to take care of so many platyfish. Thus, you need to know how to stop platyfish from mating.
To mate Platy fish is easy as butter. But to stop platyfish from mating, you should separate the males and females. Since sexual dimorphism is pronounced after 4 months, you need to stay alert at the time. Then, separate males into one tank and females into another.
If you want to make an entire new Platy tank, that’d be brilliant as well. Or, you can sell the platy fry to a nearby aquarium shop too. Or you can gift your platy fry to your aquarium enthusiast relative.
FAQ
Do Platy Fish Mate With Other Fish?
Yes, Platy fish can mate with other fish. But, that fish should be of the same species. E.g. Xiphophorus maculatus (southern platyfish) and Xiphophorus Variatus (variable platy).
When Is The Suitable Age To Mate For Platy Fish?
Platy fish are ready for breeding from the ripe age of 4 months.
However, if you want to get good quality Platy fish, maybe wait for a few more months after the platyfish has gained color and is big enough.
Conclusion
It is really easy to make Platies breed. But, with a little help from you, your Platies will thankful. Just crush some corals, maintain temperature and adjust the mating ratio in your tank to induce the breeding.
I hope you got some general facts about how Platy fish mate through this article.