Platy - Blue Wag

Pictures of fish and fish in store may vary, these are just examples/fully grown fish

Platy fish are live bearing fishes and are super peaceful. There are many different varieties of platies, they come in different shapes and colors.
When Platies are mentioned, they are either one of the 3 common species;
Variable Platy (Xiphophorus variatus),
Southern Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus),
or Swordtail Platy (Xiphophorus xiphidium).
It will be hard to distinguish the exact species due to the amount of interbred mixes of platies, resulting in all sorts of different mixed colors and shapes.

These fish are extremely easy to care for, and they have lots of personality to them. If you get them in groups, you will see them interact with each other.

They are super peaceful and not aggressive to any other fishes at all. However, they may nip at fishes with longer fins, mistakening them for food. Another reason is if you have too many males to females, the rule of thumb should be 2-3 females per male.

To distinguish males and females apart; males are often smaller than the females fully grown, and the best way to tell is the males have a smaller and pointier bottom fin, and females have a wider fan shaped fin.

Name: Platy
Science Name: Xiphophorus maculatus/variatus/xiphidium
Temperament: Peaceful

Max Size: 2.5"
pH: 6.8 – 8
Temperature: 68-78F°  (20-26°C)

Care Level: Easy
Life Expectancy: 2-3 years

Minimum Tank Size Recommended: 10 Gallons
Groups: Recommended in groups 6+ / Thrives in groups 12+