Platy fish: the basic guide

There are various types of freshwater aquarium fish in freshwater aquariums. Platies fish are one of the most popular livebearer aquarium fish. You can use read the full article below and use it as your Platy fish care guide.

If you are an aquarium lover and if you are in a hobby of having freshwater aquariums/tanks, you definitely will know about the Platy fish.

This fish is one of freshwater fish and also a popular member of the livebearers family. There are several things reasons make the Platies are popular among freshwater aquarium lovers.

Why it’s nice to have Platy fish in your aquarium?

If you are a beginner, now you might get a feeling that should I keep a Platy tank or will they suit for my freshwater tank and how to care for Platy fish.

If you are like to have a fish tank or a pond, that with smaller fish species and with various kinds of aquarium plants, here I will list down a few important points that explain why Platies should be added as a member in your freshwater tank or pond as well as the reason they become one of a popular fish among freshwater aquarium lovers.

Top reasons to have Platies in your aquarium

• They are peaceful.
• They are small in size are very active.
• These fish have various attractive color patterns and come with several species.
• Platies are really easy to care for.
• There will not be much cost when buying them or caring for them.
• Good for planted tanks.
• Platy fish is one of the best fish for beginners.
• Very easy to breed.
• They are not rare.

When considering the above facts that I have listed out carefully, you will get a clear idea of why it would be a nice experience to have Platies in your aquarium.

If you are a beginner in the aquarium hobby, I would suggest the Platy types will be a good choice to add to your aquarium as a beginner.

You can keep this Platy fish easily in your aquarium, But as well as other fish species, this fish also needs to have a suitable environment and regular lifestyle to live peacefully.

This means that simply the same as other fish types, Platy also should have a suitable environment that they can live in without any trouble.

Platies are good to add with other smaller freshwater aquarium fish species. If you are adding them with some bigger size freshwater fish or some monster kind fish this cute little fish definitely will be their meal.

They are good to add in planted tanks or outside ponds. So if you consider that add them to a better environment that suits them, this fish will be the best choice for you.

Platy fish breeding is not a hard task since they are livebearer fish.

Basics details about the Platy fish

Now it’s time to talk about some basic details about the Platies. Actually, the Platy is the common name for this fish in the genus Xiphophorus.

As we also know, this fish is also a fish type of livebearers family. I will talk about livebearers in another post because in this article I am only giving the space for the Platy fish.

Platy fish lifespan is about 3-5 years. They will grow maximum to the 3 inches size (average size of an adult Platy fish). But the size might get different with the food and other stuff they get which will be courses to their living lifestyle

Care level and the behavior of Platies

When we talk about the care level for this fish, It will be the beginner level. Because this fish is very easy-to-care. Anyone who is interesting in the aquarium hobby can start their aquarium journey with the Platies.

Platy fish price is also not expensive or not rare in almost all countries. In some countries, this fish can easily find in natural water ponds, lakes, etc.

The temperament of the Platies is known as peaceful. Basically, they will not badly harm to any fish. They having an active yet peaceful life in their lifetime.

When talking about the color form, the Platy fish is in high color variability. The color is the one reason to make this fish very attractive and beautiful. They have plain colors, mix colors, and colors with various patterns. There are many different types of Platy fish also.

When it comes to the Diet and Platy fish food, it will be the same as this aquarium fish. As their diet, they will be good with an Omnivore fish diet.

Fish tank and the environment setup for Platy fish.

When talking about the tank setup for the Platies, the tank setup should be with freshwater dense vegetation.

Add some natural plants to the tank. There is small fish and they will not harm your aquarium plants badly.

They might eat bit leave parts and algae that grow in the plant but Platy fish will not destroy your plants.

They always love to live in a natural-looking environment. So if you can give them an environment that they feel it’s natural and nice to live with, it will also make it easy to breed them. That will be a good Platy fish care tip.

Add natural background sand or small stones, make small places to hide, and go through it give them a nice environment to live in a tank.

The tank size should be a minimum a of 10-gallon tank. Water pH level should for platies 6.8 – 8.0. Water hardness for Platy fish should be between 10 -28 dGH.

The temperature of the water in a Platy fish tank should be between 70-77°F.

About the Platy fish tank mates, I have written it in a bit more detail under the last subheading. Tankmates are also very important in a community fish tank.

Different Types of Platy Fish

As I mentioned above that Platy fish comes in many different types, there are several types of platy fish we can add to our freshwater aquariums. I have already created and shared a video through my aquarium hobby channel about the Platy fish types.

Here are some videos which are about Platy fish types. I also invite you to connect with my aquarium Youtube channel Tech Nova. You can subscribe to watch the latest aquarium videos every week.

 

The above video shows some basic Platy Fish types we can see in freshwater aquariums and ponds. These types are very common and easy to find in most countries.

Tanks mates for Platies

As I noted out earlier this fish is a smaller kind of aquarium fish. So the tanks mates also should be smaller freshwater fish which is not aggressive. Having good tank mates it will help to care for Platy fish.

They will not harm other fish so you should make sure the fish you are to add to their tank also does not harm the Platy fish. So I can recommend a few fish for you

You can add this fish to your tank as their tank mates. I will note out the best matches for them. So the Guppy fish, Tetra fish, Some Barb fish types, Danio fish, Mollies and Swordtails, Endlers and also aquarium snails such as Apple snail, Nerite snail, etc will be best for them

Conclusion

In this article, I tried to share some basic detail and a small guide for Platies and basic Platy care details for Platy lovers. If you are an expert, you can add suggestions or share your knowledge with me by using the comment box below.

I also have linked one of my Youtube videos which shows different types of platies. You can watch many more freshwater aquarium-related videos by visiting my Youtube channel.

I will always like to update my articles with people who like to share their knowledge.

If you are a beginner, now I guess you might have a clear idea about Platies and why that is nice to have them, how to care for them and how easy to care for them.

If you are already in the aquarium hobby, I hope this article might update or refresh your knowledge about the Platies.

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