How can I stop my fish from breeding?

Question

I recently added four twin bar platys to my aquarium -- now I have about 14.... They're threatening to overrun my tank. What can I do to keep them from breeding successfully, or how can I tell the females from the males?

I use aquarium salt and feed them a diet of fish flakes and algae pellets. I also have mollies (only one baby so far), tetras, etc.

I don't want to kill the fry --HELP!!

Answer 1

If you look at the bottom fin near the tail, males have a fin that comes to a point while females are triangular in shape:

male - http://fish.orbust.net/images/male2.jpg
female - http://fish.orbust.net/images/female.jpg

If you don't want more fry, keep only the males - the females can store sperm and continue to give birth for up to 6 months after being separated!

See if a local pet store (privately owned, not one of the chains) will take the fry and/or females. Some stores will give you in store credit for them. You might also try posting an ad in your classifieds.

Answer 2

Unfortunately you can't stop them from breeding...The best bet solution is to stick to MALE platys and mollies in your tank if you don't want any breeding or frys (sometimes you may end up purchasing a pregnant female). Here's a site that might help you distinguish a male from a female. http://www.fishforever.co.uk/livebearers.html...Hope this helps.

Answer 3

the only way is to separate males from females. You can also add a predatory fish which fill keep the fry numbers down.

An epiplatys or similar killifish would work well.