There is no guarantee that your tank will always remain stable and healthy without being affected by any problems. Every mature planted tank is likely to have experienced a problem since it was first established. Algae are a common issue that appears in aquariums, disrupting the ecosystem inside. At least, you will see a few small clusters of algae grow at several points.
Good news: if you keep some platyfish in your planted aquarium, they are not picky eaters. Regardless of the appearance of algae, these fish will eat them without hesitation.
Most algae varieties are not toxic to platyfish and other fish, but excessive populations can disrupt the ecosystem’s balance. The plants will lack nutrients, light, and dissolved oxygen, making the fish suffocate.
Today, let us take a closer look at the platies and explore any interesting facts related to this small, adorable fish, which often lives by eating algae in aquariums.
What Are Platies?
Platy is a fish that is part of a tropical fish family that belongs to the Poeciliidae family, under the Xiphophorus genus. Platies are also called common platy, southern platyfish, and moonfish. They are closely related to their cousin, the green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii), which can interbreed with them.
These small freshwater fish species originate from the east coast of Central America (Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize) and southern Mexico. Most populations typically inhabit some water bodies, including ponds, backwaters, ditches, swamps, and flooded pastures.
There are two species that are sold in the aquarium trade, platy fish (Xiphophorus maculatus) and variable platy fish (Xiphophorus variatus). They frequently crossbreed with each other or even with swordtail species in captivity. It makes their appearance more interesting than wild platy fish types, which are usually less colorful and not attractive.
How big do platys get? On average, males are approximately 2 inches in length, while females may reach up to 3 inches. In comparison, the variable platy variety is slightly larger than the common southern platies.
Their body size is the primary distinguishing feature between males and females of the platyfish. Additionally, females possess a gonopodium.
Platies are tiny fish that require a 10-gallon tank to accommodate a group of 5 to 6 individuals. If you have a 20-gallon tank at home, it is more than enough to accommodate 10 platyfish. They may not be schooling fish species. However, they prefer to keep them in a group of at least six individuals.
The platy fish from captivity generally have an average lifespan of 2 – 3 years. In their natural habitat, wild platies can live longer than they do in captivity. An optimal tank environment and proper care will enable these fish to thrive, with high life expectancy rates.
Platies are relatively cheap. A healthy adult fish typically costs between $3 to $6. However, if you purchase them in a group that commonly consists of 5 or more, you will likely get a better price than if you buy them individually.
What Do Platy Fish Eat?
In nature, they accept a wide range of food types, including small insects, crustaceans, plant matter, and algae. While in the aquarium habitat, they can eat a variety of foods, including bloodworms, tubifex worms, brine shrimp, blanched spinach, cucumbers, lettuce, and some commercial foods, such as flakes, spirulina tabs, or floating pellets specifically designed for betta fish and goldfish.
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Do Platies Eat Your Aquarium Plants?
In some cases, platies might munch your aquatic plants, especially the gentle ones like marimo moss, hygrophila, duckweed, ambulia, egeria, myriophyllum, aponogeton, rotala, nymphea, water sprite, riccia, and cabomba. The tickers and robust aquascape plants usually do not get nibbled by them. In fact, they prefer to eat the younger leaves and dead plants. However, platies do not eat plant parts too much. They nip at it when these fish want, usually to get extra energy.
So, do not worry about keeping platies inside your planted tank. They would not consume your beloved aquatic plants completely. The small nibble from the platy typically does not hurt them seriously.
Are Aquarium Algae Good For Platies?
As mentioned above, algae are one of their primary food in the wild. Of course, the aquarium algae also give many benefits to the platies. The adults, young, and fry platy fish eat algae in the aquarium, although in different portions. When another food is hard to find in the aquarium, platies will happily chew the algae that grow on the surface of plants for a whole day.
However, the best food for platyfish is the live type, such as mosquito larvae. It contains more nutrients than most types of algae. At least the presence of algae in the aquascape tank will feed their hungry stomach.
Can Platies Become An Excellent Algae Eater?
Platy fish are not members of the family of true algae eaters, but they can eat algae. They are probably effective in cleaning low levels of algae, but they did not work for advanced levels. Platies only feed on specific types of algae found in aquariums.
Therefore, relying solely on platies to remove algae populations is not recommended. They should be paired with real algae eaters, such as Garra rufa.
For your information, the common platies (Xiphophorus maculatus) eat fewer algae than variable platies (Xiphophorus variatus).
What Kind Of Algae Do Platies Feed On?
As we are aware, there are two primary species of common aquarium algae: red algae and green algae. These algae are divided into several subspecies based on their characteristics. Unfortunately, platy fish only consume a few subvarieties in small portions. What kind of algae varieties do platies eat? Here is the list.
Do Platies Eat Green Hair Algae?
Green hair algae actually is not an independent species of algae. This category encompasses four species of green filamentous algae: Spirogyra, Cladophora, Oedogonium, and Rhizoclonium.
There are several algae names commonly used by aquarists to describe specific species, including string algae, thread algae, and fuzz algae.
Hair algae contain more nutrients than red algae. They grow rapidly and adhere to almost all surfaces, including decorations, plants, equipment, substrate, and even as a floating mass on the water surface.
Platies like to nip the young, short green hair algae that thrive on the leaves. In most cases, they spend a considerable amount of time swimming around these hairy algae and obtain enough energy by consuming them.
Do Platies Eat Staghorn Algae?
As their name suggests, the appearance of these red algae resembles a stag’s horn. They are growing on the substrate, decorations, and aquatic plants.
Most aquarium pets prefer to avoid this pest from their snack list. It allows the staghorn to easily take over your aquarium. Luckily, platyfish is one of the most popular freshwater fish that is willing to eat the staghorn algae.
However, it is sad to say that most platies tend to eat the young and dead staghorn algae, while the adult ones are often left behind due to their harsher texture. However, there is always a solution. Add some doses of Seachem Excel directly to them until they dissolve, then the platies will clean up the remains.
Do Platies Eat Black Beard Algae?
Although BBA belongs to the red algae family, it almost lacks a red color altogether. Instead, its color ranges from dark green to brownish grey and deep black.
They usually live on rough plants and hard surfaces, such as slippery and soft, beard-like stuff. Black brush algae are one of the stubborn pests, making them harder to eliminate.
Platies are a fairly potent weapon against black beard algae. Reduce their food portion, kill the BBA with algae removals like API Algaefix, and leave the platy fish to feast.
Do Platies Eat Brown Algae?
If the brown algae thrive in your freshwater tank, it indicates there is an imbalanced aquarium parameter.
Please do not let the platies remove the brown algae alone due to their diet habit and the speed at which they spread algae. It would make your tank vulnerable to this plague easily. Therefore, select algae-eater tankmates that complement your platies’ behavior.
Type Of Aquarium Algae That Platies Won’t Eat
It’s all aquarium algae varieties that are loved by platies. Now, we will tell you some algae types that this animal avoids, so you can prepare ways to prevent their infestation in your platy fish tank.
Green Spot/Dot Algae
Unlike most algae varieties, these algae do not grow to a significant height. They tend to spread in a flat form and are hard to touch. Green spot algae are mostly found to develop on the surface of objects that do not move, such as driftwood, substrate, rocks, decorations, and aquarium wall glass.
They also love sitting on some slow-growing aquatic plants, which commonly appear as dark green spots on leaves. Due to their texture and being slightly tricky to nibble, they are often left by most platy fish. Some mollusk-eating algae, such as nerite snails, can generally accept them, although they do not clean entirely and often leave irregular patterns on the glass.
Green Dust Algae
Sometimes people may be confused between green spot and green dust algae; however, both are very distinct. Green dust algae are safe for aquarium populations, but platy fish tend to avoid them. You need some aquarium snails to control them.
Blue-green Algae
Actually, blue-green algae are bacteria, specifically known as cyanobacteria. They usually appear as weird, floating green or blue slime in the aquarium. Unlike most algae types, which frequently grow by attaching to surfaces, this alga cannot.
You need to realize that the platies fish do not eat blue-green algae because they can be dangerous and toxic for these small aquarium fish.
Green Water
Your planted tank water turns into a green cloud. It may be triggered by certain microorganisms known as phytoplankton. If left untreated, the green water becomes increasingly thick until it becomes invisible.
This alga is not harmful to fish and plants. Some may feel happy living in green-colored water in their natural habitat. Their size is so small that you can not see them with your naked eye, which makes your tiny platies impossible to eat.
Red Spot Algae
They have become the rarest algae present in the aquascaping world. You may hear a little bit of information about this species because they only grow in a particular tank with specific parameters.
Red spot algae belong to the hildenbrandia genus, grow like green spot algae, and develop in flat shapes over hard surfaces, such as on stones and thicker leaves. Platies may not eat them. Red spot algae are frequently found to grow to stick heavily, making them difficult to bite.
Do Platies Eat Algae Wafer?
Algae-based wafers are a commercial food product commonly sold in many pet stores and online markets. It is actually made for bottom-dwelling fish species such as plecostomus. Platies also enjoy nibbling on the spirulina tablets. This product is beneficial for their health, as it contains high levels of protein and essential nutrients.
Do Platies Eat Aquarium Parasites?
The tiny aquatic parasites that often appear in the aquarium, such as hydra, scuds, planaria, and detritus worms, make great diets for platyfish. They have high proteins that are very useful for platies’ growth and body color. This tropical aquarium fish will be excited to hunt them, exploring every corner of the fish tank to find any odd, tiny creatures, as mentioned before.
If you left platy to choose between algae and parasites, they would select the parasites cheerfully because the live food is their favorite meal.
Can Platies Live Only By Eating Algae?
If you leave your platy tank unattended for a certain period and algae thrive there, the fish can still live, although without adding any particular fish food. However, this bad practice may starve and harm your fish. We strongly advise against it.
It can also stimulate the platies to eat your valuable aquatic plants and even their own fry. This is why the owners should ensure that the food stock is always available in the aquarium for the entire day.
Can The Real Algae Eaters Keep Alongside Platies?
The answer is yes, some truly algae-eating fish can help the platies remove every algae clump, especially at moderate to high outbreak levels. They will strike the plague swiftly rather than relying on platies to fight alone.
Moreover, when selecting algae eater species, ensure they have similar characteristics that allow them to live peacefully in harmony with platies. Here are some algae eaters that are suitable tankmates for living with platy fish:
- Bulldog plecostomus
- Pitbull pleco
- Otocinclus catfish
- Nerite snails
- Apple snails
- Ramshorn snails
- Rabbit snails
- Malaysian trumpet snails
- Twig catfish
- Hillstream loaches
- Suckermouth catfish
- Whiptail plecos
- Bristlenose pleco fish
- Siamese algae eater fish
- Chinese algae eater fish
- Siamese flying fox
Adding shrimp to a platy’s tank is not recommended, as this fish is an omnivore and the small crustacean family is a part of their favorite diet. Therefore, introducing shrimp algae eaters might put them in danger. In this case, the young and shrimplets are prone to being prey due to their size, which fits the platy’s mouth.
If no food stock is left, the poor adult shrimps are probably getting nipped by the platies until they surrender.
Do Platies Can Eat Algae In The Saltwater Tank?
In nature, platies do not inhabit brackish water or even seawater at all. Instead, they can be found in highland streams such as mountain rivers. Therefore, it is quite impossible to make them adapt to a marine aquarium, although mollies and guppies can be successfully acclimated through the drip acclimation process.
However, there are some reports on the internet stating that someone has successfully transitioned the freshwater platy fish to a saltwater form. It still can not be appropriately confirmed. We conclude that the platies cannot live in the reef tank to eat the algae there.
Do Platies Can Eat Algae In The Coldwater Tank?
Platies are tropical fish species whose natural habitat has slightly warm water temperatures. An ideal temperature range is from approximately 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 28 degrees Celsius).
Anything smaller than this number can hurt or even kill your fish. So, do not believe any information that claims platies can live and survive in cold-water environments. This means that platys do not eat algae in coldwater aquariums.
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