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Platy Moonfish

Variegated Platy ~ Variatus Platy ~ Swordtail Platy Family: Poeciliidae

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Xiphophorous maculatus (Platy or Moonfish)

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I have a blue Mickey Mouse Platy. A male. I have a Red Wag Platy. A female. The male's name is Darwin. And the female's name is Rosie. I hope they have babies for me... (more)  kathy  2008-10-09

Xiphophorous variatus (Variegated platy or Variatus Platy)

   The Platy is considered the color king of the live-bearer fishes! It is one of the best beginner fish and is excellent for community aquariums!

   The Platy or Moonfish, Xiphophorous maculatus and the Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy, Xiphophorous variatus are a short stocky fish lacking the extended tail fin or "sword" of their close relative, the Swordtail Xiphophorous helleri. These bright colored fish can be kept in a smaller tank than the Swordtail and are more peaceful, active, and hardy. They are also dependably prolific.

   Although nowadays the platies have been interbred with themselves and with swordtails to the point where it is now hard to separate species. Originally there were two common species available to the hobbyist: the Platy or Moonfish Xiphophorous maculatus, and the the slimmer and more elongated Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy Xiphophorous variatus.

   Today platies come in all colors and mixtures of colors. Many beautiful color variations and hybrids have been produced. Platies cross easily with each other and with other Xiphophorous species, thus a wide variety of popular platies are available today.

   An aquarium best suited to the platies is well lit with plants. Like all livebearers, they do like a bit of salt though it is not necessary. The plants should be loosely arranged for the Platy or Moonfish and densely planted with open swimming areas for the Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy. Have some floating plants for the fry to hide, though Platies don't eat their fry other community tankmates will.

   The male platies won't show their colors until they are mature and they will show best if the aquarium is kept at the cooler end of their temperature range.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Dream Aquarium Build your own aquarium The Coolest and Funnest Screensaver in the World.

Distribution:
   The Platy or Moonfish Xiphophorous maculatus are found on the Atlantic coast of Mexico and Guatamala, and northern Honduras. It was first introduced in 1907. They were often called "Moonfish" because of a crescent shaped dark spot at the base of their tail, especially on the yellow colored ones.
   The Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy Xiphophorous variatus are found in southern Mexico from Rio Panuco to Rio Cazones. It was identified in 1904 but not introduced into the hobby until 1932. They were an immediate hit and become one of the best liked livebearers.
   There is also a very sensitive species called the Swordtail Platy Xiphophorous xiphidium in which the male has a short sword. This delicate platy is rather rare and not seen much in the hobby.

   So many beautiful color variations and hybrids have been produced, it is difficult to find the pure-bred original strains. Today pure breds are the exception rather than the rule and their colors vary depending on the waters they originated from.

Popular varieties developed from the Platy or Moonfish:
   The solid colored fish include the very popular Red Platy or Coral Platy which will be either a deep blood red or a brick red and the Golden Platy which has an all over bright yellow color.
   The term "Moonfish" is applied when the fish have a specific color along with a black crescent shaped dot on the tail fin, these include the Red Moon, Blue Moon (Blue Platy), and the Gold Moon (Gold Crescent).
   The term "Wagtail" is applied when the fish have a specific color along with black on the tail, these include The Red Wagtail Platy, the Gold Wagtail Platy, the Black Wagtail Platy, and the Mixed Wagtail Platy.
   The term "Tuxedo" is applied when the fish have a specific color along with a black coloration below the lateral line from the gill to the tail, these include the Black Platy often called the Black Tuxedo or Green Tuxedo and has a greenish body.
   The Salt-and-Pepper Platy is mixed with a bit of all the colors and it breeds these colors true, the Mixed Platy has various colors with no particular pattern and it doesn't breed true.

Popular varieties developed from the Variegated or Variatus Platy:
   Redtail Platy varieties have a tail that is bright red.
   The Yellowtail Platy varieties will have a yellow tail fin.
   The Sunset Platy varieties have a tail with more than a single color but with yellow being prominent, though they are also called this when they have yellow dorsal fin and a red tail fin.
   In the Rainbow Platy varieties the tail has multiple colors with no one color being prominent.
   The Hawaii Platy has an entirely black body with a yellow dorsal fin and red tail fin.
   The Marigold Platy is yellow on the dorsal fin and top of the body with the lower half and the tail fin being orange.
   Other popular varieties include the Comet Platy, Gold Twinbar Platy, Sunset Fire Platy, Blue Mirror Platy, Two-Spot Platy where there are two small dots at the top and bottom where the tailfin begins and the similar Mickey Mouse Platy where the two small dots have a large dark spot in the middle, Half-moon Platy, and Bleeding-heart Platy.

   Many characteristics including special finnage such as Topsails, Sailfins, Hifins, and Plumetails or Brushtails come from Swordtail cross breeding.

Size - Weight:
   The Platy or Moonfish females get up to 2.5 inches (7 cm) males are somewhat smaller at 2.0 inches (6 cm). The Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy females can get up to 3 inches (9 cm) with males again, somewhat smaller.

Social Behaviors:
   They are an excellent community fish that is very peaceful, and does not look for trouble with other tankmates.

Sexual Differences:
   The female is larger and generally rather plain, though in many of the fancy platies today they have more color. The male has a gonopodium. It is difficult to sex platies until they are mature as the male does not attain his coloration until then.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: 15-30° dGH
   Ph: 7.0 to 8.3
   Temp: 59-77° F (15-25° C)

Breeding/Reproduction:
   The Platy or Moonfish and the Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy will readily reproduce in the aquarium. See the description of how to breed livebearers in Breeding Freshwater Fish - Livebearers.

Availability:
   The Platy or Moonfish and the Variegated Platy or Variatus Platy is readily available.

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Latest Comments
I have a blue Mickey Mouse Platy. A male. I have a Red Wag Platy. A female. The male's name is Darwin. And the female's name is Rosie. I hope they have babies for me. That would be cool. I love Platys. I really love the Mickey Mouse Platys. I plan on getting more platys. kathy 2008-10-09
I just set up my 110 gallon tank about a month ago, and a few weeks ago picked up 6 Mickey Mouse Platies, 4 female and 2 male. The males are bright, bright orange, with a very clear Mickey Mouse silhouette on the tail, and the females are kind of plain looking, but all are very healthy and happy and seem to be breeding. They stick closely together and sometimes go from one female right to the other! They seem disinterested, but have no choice! They are fairly young, and in the few weeks I've had them, all 4 are looking VERY pregnant! I expect to have fry in the next couple of weeks. A friend of mine gave me his Marble Angel and he tends to keep mostly to himself and does not bother the platies. I don't know why everyone is so worried about getting lots of fry in their tank - that's the idea of a community tank! I'm actually looking forward to having 50 or more fry as time goes on... any excess are going to the pet store! :-) Dan 2008-09-19
Hi, I was just wondering is it possible to breed my micky mouse platy with my swordtail platy. I already have fry from my swords however I've just purchased two new females who are mickey mouse platy. I want to know if these will breed or do they not breed with swordtail platy. Many thanx jonmichael 2008-07-29
My kids have a 20gal tank. We purchased 3 Red Platies & 3 Yellow Platies,... one of each kids looks large in the belly for about 2 weeks now. I wonder how long it takes for them to have babies. Vicki 2008-06-17
You should always have at least 2 females for each male. I like to actually keep 3 for each male just to keep them happy. The males will end up "fighting" over the females and you will end up with unhappy/dead fish. When I get too many males being born or just too many babies I bring them to my local pet store....they are happy to add them to their aquariums:) Jerie 2008-05-19
Some of the coolest comments:
I brought home 5 platys three months ago. Three of them were males. Within a month, the two females had thirty babies between them! My kids enjoyed watching the process from pregnancy, to a full tank of small fish. I must mention, to have success with breeding platys, plants are not enough. The babies must be separated so that they are not eaten, especially if you have other fish in the tank. The babies seem to not swim away from predators for the first little while after birth. Alwyn 2008-03-23
platies are the fish i used to cycle my two tanks as they are quite hardy. i have a problem with the breeding though as they just will not stop. have given nearly two hundred away and have added two silver sharks to one tank which feed on the fry as live food. have considered splitting the males from females or even putting them into a tank without heat as they are supposed to survive quite well at room temp and their colors show up better. funny thing is i will go to all lengths to save a little one if it gets caught in my filter or ends up in the bucket during a water change even though i'm over run with them. i refer to them as ratty platies because of their never ending breeding which is second only to their continual hunger. an easy and pleasing fish to keep if you can control the birth rate. would recommend as a good starter fish, just stick to the males if you don't want a tank full. the males are the best to look at and a little more interesting in their habits like displaying at each other. ivor whitehouse 2005-10-28
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
I just found this website and it is great. I just got my first fish tank, and by no other reason than what I call luck, I selected some platys for my first fish. I wanted to go with fresh water since I'm a beginner, and I thought these Platys were some of the most colorful of the fresh water fish in the store. They're still swimming after 8 days, and I came home tonight to what I have learned from this site as breeding in the making. I saw a long "tube" hanging from one, and out of 4 fish, I think just 1 is female. So I'm excited to see what happens. These are black tail fin, orange and yellow bodies in color. Whatever kind they are, I'm enjoying them so far. Dave 2007-07-11
Wow, I wish I'd have found this site a month ago! My husband and I purchased a 10-gallon fish tank for our kids for Valentine's Day this year, and filled it with 5 platys. When the sales associate asked if I had a male/female preference I am just enough of a dummy to just tell her it didn't matter. It was only after I got home and started researching our purchase I learned how quickly these little things multiply! And not only that, we ended up with three males and two females, so it was like having three fish only because the dominant male herded the females, and the other two males hid in the corners. So that was my first mistake. After realizing this, and dreading explaning to my kids that the fry swimming in the tank every so often were actually fish food, I decided we needed a homosexual tank. Which takes me to my second mistake... I actually rounded up and exchanged the males for females, so now the tank is all females. I had worried that an all male tank would be less sociable or something, I guess. It's solved the mating problem, but I agree with the other comments - the males are more beautiful, and I think I would have liked to have seen the interaction between them. Anyway, live and learn, but If you're looking for a stable fish tank without s gazillion babies, tell the salesperson "males only, please." Laura 2006-03-28

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Author: David Brough, CFS & Clarice Brough, CFS.

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