I originally had 2 male and 2 female platies. One of my females died and now one of the males is chasing and harasing the other male. I was wondering if they are fighting over the girl or...something else?

Yes, the males are competing over the female, and the dominant one will eventually kill the subordinant male. You can avoid this behavior by adding more females to the tank. As with any livebearer, it is best to keep 2 or 3 females for each male. This will keep the males from harassing the females too much and stressing them out.

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I have 2 male and 2 female platies, and I was wondering can a male platy breed with a female platy or do I have to buy another type breed? If they CAN breed with each other how long does it take them to pair up, and do I have to keep the couples in diffrent tanks, like one tank containing a couple and another containing the other couple?? Thanks in advance!!

Platies definitely CAN and DO breed with each other with gusto! In fact, many livebearers will breed with one another (that is, males with females of the same species), and this list includes Platies, Swordtails, Mollies, and many others. In fact, a recent issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist (May 2003) highlights this extremely popular and diverse group of fishes--check it out. As for your couples, the hard part is _not_ in getting them to breed. They will almost always be seen amorously chasing each other around (the male doing the chasing), and gestation periods range from a "handful of weeks to several months" (for the stingrays, Family Potamotrygonidae, also in the May 03 ish of TFH) generally moreso on the shorter end of the spectrum. Females will drop broods once a month or so, batches of fry ranging from ten to twenty (species depending). Here comes the tricky part. You don't have to separate couples of adults (although you should maintain a ratio of three females to every male, and within the limits of your aquarium's biological load). If, however, you do not separate the fry from the adults, they will assuredly eat them. In fact, you may never see any fry if it happens at night, as the males (and other females) have no qualms about swimming along behind the female and eating the young as they emerge into the tank. To avoid this, when the female "looks" pregnant, you can catch her and house her in a breeder attachment (either a net or a plastic kind, available on our web site--look for "Breeders") inside the main aquarium. There, she can drop the fry, they will swim into a separate housing and you can scoop the adult female out, and put the fry into a small aquarium. There, the young can grow up and, when they get large enough (say, between three and six months, depending on the size of your grow-out tank), join their parents in the main tank. Lastly, there are whole books devoted to breeding fishes, especially livebearers. If they captivate you, read up and try breeding for unusual colors or even behaviors; or just have fun!

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I recently bought an Spotted Oranda and it seems lonely. What is another fish that will not eat or kill it?

If you have a large enough aquarium, and adequate filtration, many of the fancy goldfishes may be housed together. Keep in mind they all tend to get fairly large, and are all extremely messy. If you have the space, the Bubble-Eyes, Celestial Eyes, Moors, and even Comet Goldfish make great tank mates. Be sure to get fishes that are the same size or smaller than your lonely guy, and I hope your tanks it at least 10 gallons per goldfish. Like I said, they are messy. I would not reccommend putting non cold water species with your goldfishes, such as the host of tropical fishes commonly available in pet stores. There are a lot of reasons mixing the two groups of fishes is a bad idea, and this is not the ideal forum for a discussion of that scope.

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How can you tell if a Fan Tail Goldfish is male or female?

Distinguishing sex in goldfish is often difficult. When these fish are mature (at about 4 to 6 inches), there are a few signs that develop during their breeding season. When ready to spawn, adult females will appear to have a somewhat swollen abdomen, which is a sign that she is ripe with eggs. Males will develop small white nodules on their heads, called breeding tubercules. Until these signs develop it is very difficult to determine the sex of your goldfish.

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I am a proud owner of five betta fish, and I'm probably going to get a female soon. I want to breed, but I need to know how many babies they have. If you could please help me, I would be so thankful! Thank you anyway, Katie.

Breeding _Betta splendens_ is difficult in the extreme. It is a very involved process that will require a room in your house and the better part of your time. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent books written on just this subject. I don't have the space to answer fully here, so a book might be your best bet.

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I am just curious how Platy fish get pregnant. Do they lay eggs or does the male fish actually fertilize the eggs that are inside of her?

Platies are livebearers, just like Swords, Mollies, and lots of other fishes (including freshwater stingrays). This means that the male (usually) has an intromittent organ which he uses to inseminate the female. Fertilization takes place inside the female, and within a few weeks, she gives birth to live young (gestation can range dramatically amongsth species, and the few weeks is for Platies only).

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I have a Pictus Catfish,Bala Shark, White Tip Shark Cat, Cory Catfish, Molly, and 2 Alge Eaters. One of my fish had babies. I Do not know what one. Could someone help me? The baby fish are slightly black, and about a 1/4 inch long. The molly is a male. so it counts it out But If anyone else knows how to distinguish male from female from the rest of my fish lemme know. Thanks

You are the proud (surrogate) parent of some baby Mollies. Mollies will breed in aquariums prodigiously, while the other fishes you mentioned are more difficult to breed. If you have only one Molly, she is a mom and she was pregnant when you got her--also not suprising considering the adult females are almost always pregnant and deliver new batches every month or two.

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i have fry fom a black molly and from a orange platty, some are clear some are orange and some are both, how do i know which fry are molly fry and which are plattys?

Honestly, the best thing I can tell you is that they will become noticeably different within a few months.

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My betta is a male, can I put it with a female on the same tank? What are the chances that they will kill each other????

Breeding Bettas is complicated and difficult. Some people do it for a living, and it is a full time job. The short answer is that your male will kill your female, and quickly. One solution, if your tank is large enough and free of any other inhabitants, is to purchase a small harem for the male, in order to spread the aggression around. I'll warn you this only works poorly, if at all. The real way to do it is to have a shallow dish containing the female in the same tank with the male (so he can see her), until he builds a bubble nest. There are some excellent resouces for how to start spawning the adults and rearing the fry--check under our books section on the web site.

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My sailfin molly recently had fry and I saved one. It is currently in a breeding trap and is growing well. It is now approx. 10 days old. When is safe for me to put in back in with the other bigger fish?? (The 100L tank contains 1 adult female molly, 8 neons, 3 schubert barbs, 3 corys, 3 black widows and 1 danio).

Essentially, whenever the little tyke is big enough to not fit into anyone's mouth--most likely two to three months.

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Frequent Aquarium Questions