# Show quality Platy's



## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

My panda platies spew out all kinds of white and blacks, very few true to the original pattern. They're also way too prolific, I'd feel bad about culling 1000 to the fridge just to get 1 pattern :/


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

I never thought of it like that ..... although i do have hungry cichlids and turtles that need feeding !


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

In the case you're feeding other animals you can feel less bad but with platys it's so hard for me haha. I used to feed live fish and live "market" shrimp to my terrors along with live worms but I had to stop the fish and shrimp it was sad to watch


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## Calmia22 (Aug 20, 2011)

I have a potato puffer who won't eat anything but live foods, and since he is still little platys are a relatively slow fish in comparison to others so they make great feeders for me.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Yeah that's true, if you're them as feeder at least they serve a purpose. If you're breeding platies for yourself then go for it, if you're trying to sell/show, I don't think there is much of a market for it, but then again maybe you can make one!


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Ive often wondered this too. the only place i found was american livebearers assoc. i only have one platy right now. but i have lots of guppies. You can find a lfs to take all your extras if you dont have a fish eater. have fun breeding them.


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## kevbshields (Mar 4, 2004)

Terrific question. I think years ago I asked a similar one. I've looked and looked (for years) for two kinds of show-quality fish: platies and paradise fish and found neither. Obviously I'm not looking in the right direction.

The pet shops around here are relatively useless in that regard. They're nice enough to order things for me, but "show quality platy" isn't an available option on their order form . . . I've seen it! What strikes me as odd is that I could roll into several of these places and beg for some obscure, ugly cichlid and have my phone blow up from calls of sellers. Ask for a standard, show-quality platy and all you hear are feeder crickets in the background.

Although I do not like shipping fish to my home for all the variables and mistrust of UPS, I am anxious to know if you've had any luck finding some. Every great once in awhile, I'll run into something like the "peppermint platy" (when it was new). Right now I've got 2 high fins, the wag tail could be show quality--he is beautiful--and a standard red wag. Trouble is, I may have purchased the only 3 platies worth having because I can't find healthy ones, much less healthy & pretty ones.

I'm upgrading my "man cave" at work to a 20L. Platies will be my primary fish for this tank. Certainly I'm anxious to find some either show quality or highly unusual. Anyone ever see an all-black strain? Had some swordtails like that once, but never platies.


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## jemminnifener (Nov 23, 2011)

There doesn't seem to be much interest in breeding platies. There are a few more "exotic" colors out there like bumblebee platy, panda platy, or neon variatus platy, but I think none of these breed true. That is, if you breed them together, you get fry with a bunch of different colors and patterns. I know it's true for bumblebee and panda, not sure about neon variatus. I wonder if with enough generations, you could get the color & pattern to stick?

My guess why platies are not as popular are because you don't get the range of color and pattern on them as you do guppies, plus guppies are smaller.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

stevenjohn21 said:


> I realise there is a market and a few websites for show quality guppies but does anyone breed platys to create "exotic" strains ?


I'll suggest you try here. 
http://livebearers.org/


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## kevbshields (Mar 4, 2004)

I've looked at some of these photo albums. Joining as a member may be something I'm interested in the future. Regardless, the pictures are not all that impressive. The "koi" types of swordtails are particularly unimpressive, not nearly as pretty as the Koi-style angelfish that have been bred.

I still prefer some of the strains of swordtail and platies that were bred through the 1960s, all black are one of my favorites, though the classic high-fin wagtail remains my favorite.

Anyhow, we'll hope there's a return to better solid-colored or uniformly patterned platy strains. There's a really interesting article that appeared in 2010 on the matter of using the variatus platy for hi-fin specimens and crosses, to increase the quality of those strains.


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

I just dont get why there isnt a market for these fish . I have had Oreo Platy's, Candy Cane Platy's, Panda & Bumblebee but thats about as "exotic" as they get. I think with the right strain you could sell them like hot cakes !


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## kevbshields (Mar 4, 2004)

Sometimes popularity of certain strains surprises me. The "Peppermint Platy" was a recent, past example. They were unusual at the time of their introduction, but not all that colorful. Whenever I saw a tank of them, at least half looked unhealthy, suggesting to me that the strain was probably not all that strong. Yet, those platies flew out of the tanks like they had wings. 

Because I appreciate many of the strains that originated in the '60s and '70s, what I enjoy might not produce much of a splash with other hobbyists. I have 3 female "blacks" (look something like a tuxedo, but with a lot of black); they are prolific breeders and strong as an ox. I purchased them at a huge box store, expecting them to die in the hospital tank because of how cheaply they were purchased (and knowing that big box fish ususally don't hold up, having already suffered terrible insult just to try and survive the tank conditions). I'm amazed at how great they look several months later. Though I've lost a wagtail male and male sword (unknown reasons), those females look as robust as ever. Thus, even if I could capture the fry and raise them (these platies are in my office), I'm not sure anyone would break their neck to buy my healthy, primarily black platies.

I plan to add a few platies to one home tank once I find a healthy looking bunch. Maybe I'll experiment with them to see what can be produced . . . it is a shame that the last set of hi-fins I bought didn't survive long. I think my interests are going to rest with the less fragile and more standard strains. Ich seems to be a problem with any maculatus hi-fins I've purchased. Most never last through the quarantine period. Variatus hi-fins I've had terrific luck with so far.


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## ducky14523 (Aug 29, 2011)

I think the fact that most platies and swords are just hybrids of each other complicates matters. Where as with guppies you can breed a true line its probably nearly impossible to do when the strain is two species.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Try obtaining pure blood red ones. There may be a market for those, if you could put out several thousand a month (which wouldn't actually be that hard).


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