Platy "Marygold Glow" - Xiphophorus maculatus

Marygold Glowlight Platies are a real feast for the eyes in the aquarium, as they liven it up immensely with their impressive color gradient. Descended from the Central American platy,viviparous toothcarps are another great color variety that is also very easy to maintain and breed. On their golden-yellow body color a warm orange tone blends to the middle to the end of the body, which extends to the tail fin. Thus they make as small "glow lights" in the basin really something!

You will receive our Marygold Glowlight Platies mixed sexed.

The wild form of the Marygold Glowlight Platy lives in rather slow to stagnant waters and river sections with strongly weedy bank areas. However, these pools and ponds all flow into rivers. Especially the juveniles find optimal protection here. The Tricolor Platy is so closely related to the Variable Mirror Carp (Xiphophorus variatus) that these two species may cross and hybridize in the aquarium. To prevent this, it is better not to keep these two species together. Even though its relatives include the popular mollies and guppies, there is no danger of hybridization here.

Male Marygold Glowlight Platies have a so-called gonopodium under their abdomen. This is a remodeled mating organ that looks pen-shaped. The females do not have this, which is why they can be easily distinguished by their sex. Also the female platies grow to almost 6 cm and get a quite massive body. To reproduce them no precautions are necessary, because the fish do this independently, if they feel well. Per litter a female can release almost 100 babies, which already feed themselves. Since they could sometimes be eaten by their fellow fish and even their own parents, it is therefore advisable to offer them very dense planting in which they can hide. Similar to guppies, the young hatch from eggs in the mother's abdomen. The babies can be raised well with infusoria and dust food, later also with freshly hatched Artemia nauplii. Another alternative is also the use of a so-called rearing box.

The aquarium for Marygold Glowlight Platies should have an edge length of at least 60 cm. Since they are very social group animals, it would be recommended to keep them in a group with at least 10 animals. They have no special demands on their aquarium, they can be kept uncomplicated in medium to hard water, if it has a temperature between 18 and 28 °C and is well planted with various stem plants and mosses.

For socialization other peaceful fish from similar water conditions are suitable. Especially Cory catfish tetras, danios and Loricariid catfish round off a great 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 the Marygold Glowlight Platy gets along, but it can happen that a shrimp juvenile is eaten, among other things therefore a good planting is worthwhile in any case.

The Marygold Glowlight Platy is also 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 cover 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: Use for planting 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.