The Livebearer group includes four larger families: Four-eyed Fish (Anablepidae), Halfbeaks (Hemirhamphidae), Mexican Topminnows (Goodeidae), and Live-bearing Toothcarps (Poecilliidae). The Platy is a livebearing Toothcarps and belongs to the Poecilliidae family. It is the larges of the four families and contains nearly 200 species, including several other well known aquarium species, such as Molly, Guppy and Swordtail. All species in the Poecilliidae family are equipped with teeth in both their lower and upper jaw. Theses fishes originate from America, but wild Poecilliidae fish are today found in tropical and subtropical waters in many parts of the world. Most wild Poecilliidae fish found outside America originates from aquarium fish that have been released into the wild by aquarists. In several parts of Asia Poecilliidae fish has however been deliberately introduced in an effort to combat malaria by reducing the amount of mosquitoes.

The Platy is a popular beginner fish, since it is relatively sturdy, easy to care for and also easy to spawn in captivity. It will not grow larger than 2.5 inches and a single Platy can be kept in a 5 gallon aquarium. You can choose from many different Platy variants, including the common red Wagtail Platy. Other popular variants are Sunset Platy, Variatus Platy and Tuxedo Platy. Your Platy will do best if kept in water that is slightly alkaline. It will probably survive on a diet consisting of nothing but fla ...

Continue to read all article at : http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/universal-viewid244.html