Are Platy fry usually mostly female?

[PlecoCollector]

I've had 3 batches of Platy fry so far and about 20-25 fry have survived in all. Most of them are a decent size, and as far as I can tell, all female. I think I've heard somewhere that this isn't abnormal... but still, is it too early to tell their gender, or do you think that they're all really female?
The probability just seems strange to me

 

[SeaMonkeyMiner]

I have never really raised any live-bearers. but i know in some turtles that the temp determines the sex of the baby. I dont know if this applies with fish also. Could also be the water chemistry that may be affecting them.

 

[TLH]

I'm almost sure livebearers can actually change sex depending on the numbers of each.You probably won't be able to tell what they are until they're atleast 4-6 weeks old anyway.There is usually more females than males though,probably something like 60/40 at a guess.

 

[love_fish]

Well, sometimes males don't show their sex (gonopodium) until late. So I say give it some more time.

 

[SarahCdnNanny]

This happened with my guppies... all the males died when they were about 3-4 weeks. They stopped swimming right and just died, as if they didn't grow right.

In Jan 05, I had 4 female guppies and 2 males to start....

I had about 30 fry and all the males died.
The second generation (2 batches born within days of each other) same thing... Males lived about 3-4 weeks but then died...
All the females so far have lived.


So until today, I had a tank with 4 females an inch long, and 7 females that were half that size.... I just bought one male, since that's all it takes to get things going Should be interesting to see the markings since I know who the daddy is

Sarah

 

[Lotus]

I have read somewhere that the pH of the water can affect the ratio of males:females, but I don't remember if there was any scientific evidence to back it up. Livebearers don't change sex, but males can take a while to show their characteristics, especially if there is already a dominant male in the tank.

 

[PlecoCollector]

Hmmmm, that's really interesting.
I have 2 batches of fry mixed in with one another, one batch is 3 months old and the other is 2, and they all appear female. I'll keep checking them though. The three that are a month old in the breeding trap are still too small I suppose.
Most of my fry are in their own tank, but maybe they think the Endler is the dominant male
I guess I'll end up buying another male for these guys when they get bigger

 

[mishababy]

well out of my 2 batches of platy fry only 2 were male, and out of my 2 batches of guppy fry i havent seen any males yet doesnt mean there isn't one (the second batch is only 2 months old) they havent grown much because well i dont have a place to keep them so they are still in the 10 gallon tank

 

[fishkeeper1210]

i have 9 baby platies, 1 2 months old, 3 1 month old, and 5 1 week old. they all look like females, but i am guessing when they turn to ba around 3 months there sex should show