Platy/ variatus crossbreeding

Jan 31, 2009
81
0
0
Near LA
#1
Due to some odd quality of my tank, I have twice as many male platies as females (all but one of the platies was born in the tank). There is a lot of bullying and chasing going on, so I plan to introduce at least four more females as soon as I can get a QT tank set up.

While I was at Petsmart looking at tank prices (I can get a bare-bottom 10g with filter and heater for about $50) I noticed something called a Marigold Variatus that looks exactly like a platy. They are the same genus as platies and swordtails. I remember reading somewhere about Variatus platies interbreeding with regular platies, so I was wondering if this would be an option for my shortage of females. Otherwise I'll stick to the LFS, but these guys are too pretty not to consider.

Thanks for the input.
 

Jan 31, 2009
81
0
0
Near LA
#4
I got the QT tank yesterday ($40 at the LFS), set it up, borrowed some filter media from the betta tank, added PRIME, let it sit for most of the afternoon, and went to Petsmart right before closing. Currently in QT (all female):
1 white mickey mouse platy
1 gold twin barred platy
1 redtail black variatus
1 pregnant marigold variatus

Everyone seems to be doing well, but I'll keep testing the water in case I added the fish too soon. I wasn't sure about this, and didn't want to starve the bacteria.