hey

iv got 2 platies, male and female, and hoping to get them to breed. i know best is to have 2 or 3 female to 1 male but at the start i didnt set out to breed them. anyways as i have heard the male usually chases the female but in my case the female is doing the chasing! she is constantly chasing him. what does this mean? i dont see any signs the male being interested tho. could i have a gay platy : /. so is she ready to breed and i should i get another male? just wana hear some thoughts on the situation please

thanks

Are you sure its the female chasing the male? The female's anal fin is usually fan shaped, whereas the male is more needle pointed. The blue platy in my avatar is a female, as you can see the "fanned" anal fin. im guessing you could get another male if you dont like what your current male is doing, but you would have to get more females. I have quite a few platies and a good rule of thumb is to have 1 male per 2 female platies or else the male will chase the female to death. Getting another male will ensure the females death. Whatever you do always keep a 1:2 ratio. You dont have to worry about them mating, if you have a male and a female, chances are, the female will get pregnant before you know it.

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55gallon
Light - 6500K CFL, 23wattsx5 5hr/day
Substrate - Red Mexican Clay, Sphagnum Peat moss, Eco-Complete
Misc- Pressurized CO2, EI Dose KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM-B
Plants -Limnophila Aromatica, Stargrass, Dwarf Hair Grass, Christmas Moss, Baby Tears (HM), Dwarf Baby Tears(HC), Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Riccia Fluitans

she will get pregnant dont you worry! but also dont be suprised if your fry disappear! make sure they have plenty of hiding places

ye my female looks like your avatar Nurse. she is doing all the chasing. hoping they will breed but will see what happens . um why would the fry dissapear tho Japan? do platies eat their own fry?

yea they will eat em up...i have seen about 15-20 fry in the last couple months i have 3 left they are big enough now so they wont become dinner! there is now telling how many i have never seen and they just got ate!

Japan is right. Usually in the wild, anything that is edible and can fit in the Platy's mouth will be eaten, including their own young. I just had about 10+ platy fry but didnt seperate them fast enough and 6 got eaten. I only have 4 left in my perforated mini breeding tank.

When you get fry, feed them baby brine shrimp or microworms for optimum growth because fry need lots of protein whereas the adults diet's mainly consists of greens. You can also put flakes in a sandwhich bag and rub it between your fingers until it's powder and feed them (works effectively).

__________________
55gallon
Light - 6500K CFL, 23wattsx5 5hr/day
Substrate - Red Mexican Clay, Sphagnum Peat moss, Eco-Complete
Misc- Pressurized CO2, EI Dose KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM-B
Plants -Limnophila Aromatica, Stargrass, Dwarf Hair Grass, Christmas Moss, Baby Tears (HM), Dwarf Baby Tears(HC), Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Riccia Fluitans

oh k i didnt know. will be sure to seperate them wen they start to breed! thanks alot for the help!