Germany Platy - Xiphophorus maculatus

The color attractive Germany Platy is called so because of its black red golden coloring. The body is colored golden orange. Towards the tail the coloration intensifies to a bright red. The fins of this beautiful breeding form of the Central American platy, also called mirror pl aty(Xiphophorus maculatus), are black, the iris of the eye is radiant bright yellow.

Xiphophorus maculatus belongs to the family of live-bearing toothcarps. In the biotope in the wild, platies are found in marshy standing waters connected to flowing waters. Mirror carps have a long tradition in aquaristics as aquarium fish. They are so closely related to swordtails that they can even interbreed with them. The popular aquarium fish guppies and mollies also belong to their kin. Like them, platies are easy to keep and are considered a hardy ornamental fish.

Male Germany platies grow to about 3.5 to 4cm , females up to 6 cm long. Females have a rounder body, males can be identified by their gonopodium, the elongated sexual appendage at the base of the tail.

Platies need the security of a group of conspecifics. We recommend a troop size of at least 10 fish, although you can mix different color strokes (provided you can live with the fact that colorful mixes then fall in the offspring). Platys would like a well planted aquarium from 60 cm edge length and prefer. They need medium to hard water, a GH of 5 to 25 °dGH and a KH of 5 to 20 °dKH as well as a pH between 7 to 8.5 and a water temperature of 18 to 28 °C.

Germany Platy aquarium fish are live-bearing toothcarps, so they give birth to live young. Germany Platy females can store the sperm of the male after mating and thus become pregnant a few more times - even in fish groups consisting only of females, young can therefore still be born. A litter of young platies contains about 10-80 babies. They grow up quickly. Adult Germany Platys will prey on the young fish, so the aquarium should be very well planted so that the baby Platys can hide.

You should refrain from socializing with large crayfish, it is possible that the crayfish will injure or even eat the platies. A community aquarium with other fish fits very well, and also with larger shrimps such as Amano shr imps or also with dwarf crayfish Platys can be kept well. Even with well reproducing dwarf shrimps for example of the genus Neocaridina or with Sulawesi land shrimps a socialization is conceivable, if the aquarium offers sufficient hiding places for the shrimps.

As omnivores, Germany Platies like to take both vegetable and animal food: they like frozen food and live food such as cyclops, water fleas, artemia, red, black and white mosquito larvae, other insect larvae and worms, but Platies also like to eat soft vegetables and even algae and other growth. Germany Platies are not fussy, they will actually accept any food for anything eating ornamental fish in the aquarium. Since platies tend to eat from the water surface, flake food and granular food that does not sink too quickly issuitable.

Our food recommendation: The fragrant NatureHolic Guppyfeed was tailor-made for 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 when keeping fish 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.