# Consider a Platy



## SeaCity (Jan 22, 2014)

I have a beautiful male DT and he has two Platies as tank mates. They get along quite well.
They never hold still, so it's hard to get a good pic.
One is a Mickey Mouse Platy, Brutus and the other is a Sunfire Wag Platy, Suvi.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yes, but they also poop a TON! So just account for that lol and Platies like to be in groups of three or more as most livebearers do. I assume you know you have a male and a female? Suvi is super cute, how'd she get the chunk taken out of her tail? Looks like it is healing which is good.


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Yeah, I was only able to keep 3 platys in a 10G due to their bioload.


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## SeaCity (Jan 22, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Yes, but they also poop a TON! So just account for that lol and Platies like to be in groups of three or more as most livebearers do. I assume you know you have a male and a female? Suvi is super cute, how'd she get the chunk taken out of her tail? Looks like it is healing which is good.


I didn't know Suvi was a female. What is the indicator?
It's funny about the tail. I was so busy trying to take the picture that I didn't notice it. Bummer. I guess Brutus is aptly named.


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Hmm, I thought I saw a gonopodium on both


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Here we are. And Suvi, in the first and second pictures you can clearly see her anal fin, it's big and black, can't really miss it. It is not pointed as a gonopodium is, also just her size in general. I expect some babies in around 3 weeks or so. Would make a nice snack for your Betta.









How long have you had these two in with your Betta? Was he in there before you introduced them or where they first?


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

oops! I was looking at it wrong. I thought she had a gonopodiom in FRONT of the anal fin...uh...oops. Lol. 
I have only had 8 males and 1 female platy in my fish hobby. Hopefully I get more females than males in the litter. 

Note: My platy just gave birth a week ago, and she is already showing signs of being pregnant again, so they can store sperm for a LONG time.


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## SeaCity (Jan 22, 2014)

*Fishy sex 101*



lilnaugrim said:


> Here we are. And Suvi, in the first and second pictures you can clearly see her anal fin, it's big and black, can't really miss it. It is not pointed as a gonopodium is, also just her size in general. I expect some babies in around 3 weeks or so. Would make a nice snack for your Betta.
> 
> View attachment 297649
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> ...


I feel so ignorant... I am new to this. Puddle, the betta was the original inhabitant of the tank. Then Brutus and another Mickey Mouse, who died after a few days because he didn't get his share of the food. A few days later I added Suvi. Should I move her to a separate tank? Or maybe put her in with my juvenile female betta?


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## SeaCity (Jan 22, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Yes, but they also poop a TON! So just account for that lol and Platies like to be in groups of three or more as most livebearers do. I assume you know you have a male and a female? Suvi is super cute, how'd she get the chunk taken out of her tail? Looks like it is healing which is good.


Lilnaugrim - Brutus has been with Puddle for about 3 weeks and Suvi has been there for about 2.
BTW - Suvi is derived from Vesuvius - the famous volcano that destroyed Pompeii. Her bright yellow and orange look kind of like lava and the black reminds me of ash. She has sprinkles of black on her head too, which look like flakes of ash.


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## Kiara1125 (Feb 1, 2011)

The mickey mouse is a male and the wag is a female. Since when are platies bioloads large? I've never had a problem. In my early stages of fish keeping, I had 16 adult platies and numerous fry into a 10g. That was along with a male betta. I never had any problems with the water parameters. The only reason why I would see it as a problem now because it looks like the OP has all fake plants.

Anyway, as long as the betta doesn't show aggression, the platies should be fine in there. Also, as long as the male isn't a breeding machine (like some livebearers that you see in stores that NEVER stop chasing females) then he should be fine with the female. I currently have a single male and female in my 10g. They swim with each other a lot, but it's not a breeding attempt. It's more like they formed a pair. So, I would just make sure that your female isn't too stressed out if the male is trying to breed with her. I once had a platy pair (blue hifin female and red tiger male) who bonded when I bought them together. They only bred and produced fry once, but then they never bred after that. The male would stay by her side, but not breed. If he went off somewhere else then the female would follow. After moving them from my 20gL to my 55g, the red tiger got sick after a few months and died. The blue hifin never got sick, but she just stopped eating and looked like she lost the will to live without her partner. Fish are unique and I've noticed that many livebearers can actually form pairs/bonds whether they're alone or in group situations.

Good luck with your platies and betta! and sorry for trailing off. xD


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I wasn't worried about the baby issues, I was more worried about that large chunk taken from Suvi's tail which looks a lot like Betta damage. Livebearers of all types can get semi-aggressive with each other but it's usually more if it's a bunch of males together and one female and it isn't usually this bad either. I would keep a very close eye on your Betta boy in case he decides he wants to snack on more finnage from your Platies. 

Usually when you want to put a Betta and other fish together you want to introduce the other fish first and the Betta last so he doesn't have a "territory" and the other fish aren't intruding on his territory of which he will protect; which can result in injury, stress and occasionally death if they are really into it. So I would just watch them very carefully, do frequent water changes so you can help keep Suvi's tail clean of infection.

@Kiara, all livebearers have a large bioload, they are constantly pooping and when they aren't pooping, they are eating and picking at algae. They don't have as large of a bioload as algae eaters like Pleco's and Oto's I don't believe but it's much larger than any Betta. Generally the filters will be fine but there will still be poop there which can just be annoying IMO is all. I know not everyone cares about that side of it though, but yes they do have a fairly large amount of bioload comparatively.


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