Platy Quantity Recommendations

[Connor Elliott]

How many platys are recommended to be kept together?

[JettsPapa]

They aren't shoaling fish, like tetras, rasboras, corydoras, etc, but I believe they are social.  I don't know if there is a hard and fast number, but I'm curious about what other replies you get.

[H.K.Luterman]

I'd keep them in 3's, two females for every male, much like guppies. That way the girls aren't being overly pestered by the boys. If I were to add some to an empty tank, I might get six. But keep in mind they'll soon breed to bigger numbers. Don't have to be too precise about male to female ratio though, as long as there's more girls than boys it's fine (and the girls look just as good as the boys, so bonus!).

[Fishdude]

Depends a little on the tank size but honestly if you have males and females and somewhere for fry to hide, you're going to have more of them before long.

[Connor Elliott]

28 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

I'd keep them in 3's, two females for every male, much like guppies. That way the girls aren't being overly pestered by the boys. If I were to add some to an empty tank, I might get six. But keep in mind they'll soon breed to bigger numbers. Don't have to be too precise about male to female ratio though, as long as there's more girls than boys it's fine (and the girls look just as good as the boys, so bonus!).

So I have 2 males right now how many females should I get then? To balance it out?

[H.K.Luterman]

2 minutes ago, Connor Elliott said:

So I have 2 males right now how many females should I get then? To balance it out?

I'd get at least 4 females. 

[Brandy]

I have kept a pair in a 10 gallon with some random guppies. I have 5+ fry right now. The male did not seem to be overly pesty, but he had lots of distraction from all the guppy activity...Which I suspect is why I only have 5 fry.

[Connor Elliott]

8 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

I'd get at least 4 females. 

My tank already has some fish in it and six seems a little to much do you think I could do like 4 males instead?

[H.K.Luterman]

2 minutes ago, Connor Elliott said:

My tank already has some fish in it and six seems a little to much do you think I could do like 4 males instead?

That would be fine to have all males. If you list the tank size and stocking we'd be able to help you figure out how many you could add. 

[Connor Elliott]

1 minute ago, H.K.Luterman said:

That would be fine to have all males. If you list the tank size and stocking we'd be able to help you figure out how many you could add. 

So my tank is 20 gallons and there is a betta 2 male platys 2 golden wonder killifish and a nerite snail so I guess not a lot 

[Connor Elliott]

7 minutes ago, Connor Elliott said:

So my tank is 20 gallons and there is a betta 2 male platys 2 golden wonder killifish and a nerite snail so I guess not a lot 

Also the platys are dwarf coral reds

[Connor Elliott]

1 hour ago, Connor Elliott said:

Also the platys are dwarf coral reds

What do you think?

[Sandyjo]

Hi. I started out with 2 males and 6 females about 18 months ago. I've lost count now. I have given away around 20.  I think there's about 40 right now and I keep having a few fry survive every few weeks. The males definitely pester the females so be sure to have a good ratio and places for the females to rest/hide. Luckily, they're in a 75 and it's not overly stocked with other fish--- partly because of the numbers of platys. My LFSs won't take them very often so rehoming can be somewhat problematic, at least for me at times. This was feeding time tonight. 

[Connor Elliott]

3 hours ago, H.K.Luterman said:

That would be fine to have all males. If you list the tank size and stocking we'd be able to help you figure out how many you could add. 

Any ideas?

[Theresa_M]

I bought three female coral reds. I love those fish so much. They looked great when I picked them up and then before long two of them developed swollen bellies. I thought they were over eating and just couldn’t figure it out because I tried to be so careful with feeding. Welp, my 29g is now full - chalk full - of platty fry! The two were pregnant! I was hoping they’d get eaten. No such luck with a well planted and scaped tank. From now on, I will only buy young live bearers to avoid this from happening and I’m crossing my fingers that a LFS will take my males. Otherwise, I’ll buy another tank and put all the males on it. Not sure what else to do. I never wanted babies. 

[H.K.Luterman]

12 hours ago, Connor Elliott said:

Any ideas?

I think you'd be fine adding 2 or 3 more male platies.

[Connor Elliott]

36 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

I think you'd be fine adding 2 or 3 more male platies.

Cool I appreciate the help