Germany Platy "glow" - Xiphophorus maculatus

With Germany Glow Platys one does not wonder about their name. These handsome fellows shine in yellow-gold, red and black in the aquarium and are a great color variant of the wild platy from Central America. Especially its easy keeping makes it since a long time, similar to the Guppy, a traditional aquarium fish, which is especially popular with beginners.

You will receive our Germany Glowlight Platys mixed sexed.

In their habitat, platies inhabit slow-moving and also stagnant waters and sections, most of which have dense underwater vegetation and weeds. In these, especially young animals seek protection from predators and of course small food. The German Glowlight Platy is closely related to the Variable Mirror Carp, Xiphophorus variatus, so these two can produce fertile hybrids. Therefore, you had better not keep these two together in the same aquarium to prevent this. Although it is also related to guppies and to mollies, but here this problem is not given.

Males and females differ visually in size. The males grow to a maximum of 4 cm and carry a sexual appendage under the abdomen, the so-called gonopodium. In females this is not present, their anal fin resembles a sail. They also grow to almost 6 cm in size and are nearly spherical. They reproduce almost independently and are also constantly courting. The female can give birth to almost 100 young, which feed independently after whelping. To protect them from voracious mouths, it is worthwhile to plant the aquarium densely in places. As with guppies, platies are among the live-bearing toothcarps. With our YoungFeedbut also with Artemia nauplii they can be raised well.

The Germany Glowlight Platys can be kept well in an aquarium of 60 liters or more. Since they get their strength from the group, you should keep them at least with 10 animals. Since they are not very demanding, they can be kept well in medium to hard water, if it has a temperature between 18-28 °C and in places a dense planting with fine stem plants, but also with mosses . Especially juveniles, but also small invertebrates, such as dwarf shrimps for example, seek protection and retreat here.

Other peaceful fishes can be socialized with them very well. Especially corydoras, tetras, danios and loricariids are perfect for this in a community aquarium. Also suitable are larger shrimps, such as the popular Amano shrimp or Fan shrimp are excellent. Even with well reproducing Dwarf shrimp species but it can happen that a shrimp juvenile is eaten, therefore a good planting is worthwhile in any case.

The Germany Glowlight Platy is an omnivore, but in the aquarium it will easily accept almost any commercial granulated food, dry food or food flakes for omnivorous ornamental fish. Every now and then they can be fed live or frozen foods such as Tubifexwhite, black or red Mosquito larvae, as well as Daphnia, Grindalworms or Artemia can be spoiled. Apart from that, they also like to nibble on soft vegetables such as soaked Zucchini chips or Pumpkin chips, or also Algae leaves. Since it also nibbles on algae deposits and growth, it keeps the aquarium nice and clean.

Our food recommendation: The fragrant NatureHolic Guppyfeed  has been tailored to the needs of guppies and other viviparous fish in the aquarium. In addition to high-quality animal ingredients, it also contains vegetable components that benefit guppies & co. The soft granules protect the sensitive mouth of the viviparous from injuries caused by hard food grains and provide the fish with a natural feeding experience.

Our plant recommendation: For planting, use NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.