# Dwarf Coral Platy



## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

Thought I would show off my new Dwarf Coral Platy. I have 3, this is one of them.










Isn't he Perty? :animated_fish_swimm


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## Sherry (Nov 22, 2011)

They sure look tiny compared to my regular size ones. They do look neat. Did you get them from a store or breeder?


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## gar1948 (Jan 25, 2012)

Very nice color-----------


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

Sherry said:


> They sure look tiny compared to my regular size ones. They do look neat. Did you get them from a store or breeder?


I was in a local "mom & pop" aquarium / fish store last week and looked over and saw these bright colored guys swimming in a tank on the top row. Asked about them and was told they were under observation since they didn't look right. I kept thinking about them and a week later went back. Was told that the lyre tail mollies that were in with them were fin nipping them. They moved out the mollies and everything seemed fine so they found 3 that didn't have nipped fins and I brought them home. They are tiny. The smallest one is only about 3/4 of an inch long. I guess they will get to be about an inch long max. They are a great addition to the tank.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I was trying to zoom in on your platy, but I couldn't. Are they dwarfs because of a spinal deformity, like balloon mollies, or do they have a normal platy shape? I'm just wondering if there are balloon platies now (I hope not), and what these dwarf platies I haven't seen yet are.


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

navigator black said:


> I was trying to zoom in on your platy, but I couldn't. Are they dwarfs because of a spinal deformity, like balloon mollies, or do they have a normal platy shape? I'm just wondering if there are balloon platies now (I hope not), and what these dwarf platies I haven't seen yet are.


They are perfectly shaped platys just tiny! I googled them and it seems that around 2009 or so they became popular. Not many stores carry them now.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Interesting. When I was a kid, and wooly mammoths roamed the parking lots, we used to get platys not far removed from the wild forms. There was one type that was way smaller than the others, no more than than an inch and a quarter. I wonder if they crossed domestic platies back with the small wild ones.

Or, you could do the same thing by overcrowding and not changing water. I bred dwarf variatus when I was a teenager - no fish was bigger than an inch and they bred true, til I started changing water weekly and the fourth generation of young suddenly grew to normal size...

I hope that if you breed them and grow some out, you'll post whether the young are dwarfs. I'm very curious whether this is genetic or environmental.


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

navigator black said:


> Interesting. When I was a kid, and wooly mammoths roamed the parking lots, we used to get platys not far removed from the wild forms. There was one type that was way smaller than the others, no more than than an inch and a quarter. I wonder if they crossed domestic platies back with the small wild ones.
> 
> Or, you could do the same thing by overcrowding and not changing water. I bred dwarf variatus when I was a teenager - no fish was bigger than an inch and they bred true, til I started changing water weekly and the fourth generation of young suddenly grew to normal size...
> 
> I hope that if you breed them and grow some out, you'll post whether the young are dwarfs. I'm very curious whether this is genetic or environmental.


I'll keep that in mind but since all 3 of mine are males I don't think I'll be doing any breeding LOL*r2 BTW If you click on the picture it will take you to Photobucket where the pic is stored and you can zoom in there. The quality of the photo isn't the best but you can see that he is perfectly formed.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

If you can breed those male platys, I take my hat off to you as a great fish breeder!


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

navigator black said:


> If you can breed those male platys, I take my hat off to you as a great fish breeder!


Just call me "Super Breeder"!!!!:animated_fish_swimm


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