Platy/Molly/Livebearer Male to Female Ratio

[NathanF]

I've read and heard in a few places that platys and mollies should be kept with a male to female ratio of 1:2 or greater.

Is this only to avoid aggression? If so, are there any issues with getting all females if you want to avoid breeding? (Apart from pre-pregnant fish, of course...I understand they can give birth a few times even after a male has been removed.)

Thanks.

[~Col~]

You can go all males or all females. There will still be a pecking order but nothing like the agression you'd get if you had two males and one female. The males would chase and harrass the female to death.

My LFS keeps their males and females in seperate tanks to help reduce the risk of someone buying a pregnant female. Obviously it's not 100% sure but it helps.

[NathanF]

You can go all males or all females. There will still be a pecking order but nothing like the agression you'd get if you had two males and one female. The males would chase and harrass the female to death.

My LFS keeps their males and females in seperate tanks to help reduce the risk of someone buying a pregnant female. Obviously it's not 100% sure but it helps.

Thanks much! We'll do just that. Now I kind of regret getting that male with the three female platies with have. Maybe we'll luck out and he'll be sterile. ;-)

[~Col~]

LOL!! I hope you're luck is better than mine. I just found a guppy fry from a female & male that I thought were too inbred to breed anymore. Now I need to shuffle them all around so they don't continue.

[gadget228]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but out of all the livebearers that I have, the platies have more fry than anybody else does.