# Platies and Mollies: How Many?



## sarah5775

Well. I have a 55 gallon tank. It was a goldfish tank for a long time, but I ended up getting rid of them and going with tropical. I moved them out into a friends pond and went tropical.

Well, I have 

1 blue gourami
4 bloodfin tetras
5 black longfin tetras
3 harlequin rasboras
and 3 cory cats.
1 loach- I forget what kind but the store said it would stay small. It's about two and a half inches long.


I also have one male platy. I bought two, a male and a female, but for some reason the female didn't make it. I know I can add more fish, and would like to go with mollies and/or platies.

My question is, how many should I go with? I don't plan on separating the fry, but the tank is full of ornaments and has a lot of hiding spaces so I think I may get some survivors, at least I hope so. The apt complex where i live will only allow one fish tank, so I can't get a fry tank, and I think fry boxes are too small for mollies and platies, so I think the fry will be on there own. I am hoping to get some survivors. But at the same time, I don't want to be overrun.

With a tank that size, (I'm running two AquaClear 75s and may add another filter so its pretty well filtered) how many mollies or platies should I go with? I have about twenty dollars credit from the lfs, so I wanted to get some new fish, and the fish I have had have been acclimating to the tank for a few months now, and except for the one platy, I haven't lost any.

Also, should I wait until the weather gets warmer before I buy the fish? I posted this in another thread. It's about 50 degrees here, and its not a long walk to and from the car, but its still a walk. what do you think?

Thanks for any feedback or advice! The tank has rocks, caves, different size stones, and a few ornaments as well as some "baby saver plastic grass" I chucked in there.


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## jrman83

I prefer Platies over Mollies as far as sturdy fish. I know you lost one. I really like Mollies though and love black Mollies. A friend of mine that has been keeping livebearers for nearly 30yrs refuses to buy Mollies because they are so susecptable to getting sick.

I would go with 5-7 Platies with a 2-1 f/m ratio (added over a couple of weeks). I have a 75gal that has about 40 Platy fry from 1 week old to 3+ months old, and about 95% are the same type - and it came from 2 males and 4 females.

Be sure to drip acclimate your fish when you get them. It is a pain in the a$$, but it goes a long way to keeping those fish alive you get from the fish store.


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## sarah5775

How do you drip acclimate a fish?


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## jrman83

Take your aquarium only bucket and place in front of the tank the fish are going to and place a block of wood under the bucket, tilting it toward the aquarium. Make sure it is clean, of course. Take the bag with the fish in it and gently dump it in the bucket. Get some airline tubing and tie 3-4 overhand knots in it and cut a piece big enough to stick a few inches in your tank and the other in the bucket. Start a siphon and tighten the knots until you achieve a 30-60 drops a minute. Let this go for a 2-3 hour period. Net the fish from the bucket and place in the tank.

I used to think it was a pain in the butt, but now do it for every fish. The purpose is to slowly acclimate your fish to their new water. It can and will make a big difference. 

You can also go a step further and let the bag float for 15min in the top of the aquarium to even the temperature. Personally, I believe if you are drip acclimating then temperature will slowly adjust also. I usually don't do it for that reason.


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## missmanatee

i am not an expert and i do not know how many mollies or platties you should get but i have had platties for a while and they are very hardy and can handle a lot also i know that they are best kept in small schools and you should make sure you have a couple more females than males. i have a school of platties of about 12 and would deffinetly recomend them. also i do not think you need to wait untill warmer weather to get fish. i once got some goldfish in the winter and transported them to and from outside in a hat in their bag and they lived for more then five years. though i don't think you should try that. but i know at my fish store they sell fish warmers which you can put next to your fish bag to keep it temporarily warm when you bring them home. so you could try that if you are really worried. good luck:fish5:


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