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I have a 72 gal tank.....started with 2 platys (among other fish....)
Now the platys bred once, producing 2 baby fish which are still doing very well (and getting bigger). They are about 6 weeks old now. Now, I just noticed another brand new baby!!!

I don't want too many fish in the tank (humane reasons, etc). Short of returning my platys.........any advice? I know I can't STOP them from breeding, but I've only had them for 8 weeks, and they've bred twice now......meaning I have at least 5 platys....maybe more at this point! I am just concerned they will keep going and my tank will be overrun.

Thanks in advance,

all you can do is seperate the males and females...
we will always take unwanted platys

Not to sound totally ignorant, but how do you tell which are males and females? I now know which is the female (I think) as she is totally swollen with a dark red abdomen that has gotten lighter now that there are new babies in the tank.....

But for the babies? Too young to tell? When should I start seperating them....when do they begin breeding (how large, age, etc).

Thanks so much Ned!

male platy (note the pee-pee):
http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/ ... Platy3.jpg
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female platy:
http://donnboss.jadeinternet.com/bluefenaleplaty.jpg

Livebearers have stranger sex lives than Michael Jackson,
and possibly Madona.
All of the below is hear-say, but probably true:
Some species of livebearers need only mate once,
and can store the sperm and re-impregnate themselves 7 times.
Adult mollys can be fully functioning as both male AND female.
Eeew.
According to a collector I spoke to, wild MALE mollys in Florida are NEVER found in freshwater, only Saltwater.
A species of one livebearer is ALL FEMALE, mates with a related species,
the father passes on none of it's genetics, but triggers the egg to start growing.
Wierd group of fish. Many other anomalies.
Generally defenseless, which is why they have a billion babies.
However, a cool water livebearer, Xenocara from Mexican mountains, is almost as aggressive as some cichlids.