Overview: To introduce an active and hardy fish in your tank, you can have Red Platy, which is both pleasant as well as peaceful. It is a perfect fish for the beginners and breeders due to its easy to maintain and breed features. At the same time, due to its striking color, it can add more vivaciousness to the tank. The best part is Red Platy can eat a variety of things and are not fussy eaters. All this makes them perfect for the new aquarists and the potential breeders. They are live-bearing fish and love to live in a community. All these make them pretty popular among the fish keepers.

Distribution and Habitat: Every Platy, including Red Platy, are native to Central and South America. Predominantly they are found in Vera Cruz and Belize. Platy lives to dwell in water bodies that are small and warm. Ditches, canals, marches, etc. are the places where Platy can be found. However, now due to their easy-going nature, hassle-free breeding habits, and striking color, they are preferred by aquarists everywhere.

Temperature: The ideal temperature for Red Platy ranges from 64 to 77 F (18 to 25 C). Since they do not have any particular need, all that you need is providing them with filtered water with the perfect temperature range. Make sure the tank is at least 5 gallons. Fish like the tank if there a few live plants too. It will help them to remain protected from aggressive males.

Water Conditions: The water parameters include temperature, pH, and the hardness of the water.  The ideal temperature range for Red Platy is between 7.0 to 8.2 and the hardness of 10 to 25 dGH.

Breeding: Red Platy are prolific breeders. That’s why they always enthuse the fish breeders. Once impregnated with sperms, the Red Platy can carry them for more than six months and continue giving birth to 10 to 40 fry in 5 to 6 weeks. Fry are easy to raise. Breeders can develop more colorful and fascinating varieties with Platy.

Feeding: Platy love feeding on algae as they provide them enough fiber. At the same time, supplementing them with protein is also essential. You can provide them with live food, flakes, frozen and anything which is suitable as fish feed. Platies are always eager to feed, but make sure to feed them only twice a day.

Lifespan: Generally, Red Platy can live up to 1.5 to 2 years of age that depends on water parameters as well as the feeding quality and schedule.

Do You Know?

Male Platy are aggressive in nature. Therefore, make sure you do not keep them with other aggressive species like angelfish.