Platies for Sale
Shop our colorful selection of platies, the cheerful, easygoing livebearers that are perfect for beginners and a bright addition to any community tank. Platies (Xiphophorus maculatus) come in a rainbow of colors and patterns, stay a manageable size, and have friendly, peaceful personalities. At Tropical Treasures in Cheyenne we hand-select healthy, active platies so you bring home fish that are colorful and ready to settle right in.
Like guppies and swordtails, platies are livebearers that give birth to live fry rather than laying eggs, which makes them fun and rewarding to keep. They mix beautifully with our other guppies and swordtails in a livebearer community.
Popular platy varieties include Mickey Mouse Platies, Sunset Platies, Red Wagtail Platies, Tuxedo Platies, Variatus Platies, Blue Platies, and other colorful freshwater livebearers.
Popular Platy Varieties
Our platy lineup rotates with each shipment, but you'll often find favorites like:
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Mickey Mouse platies — named for the playful tail marking, in red, silver, and tricolor.
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Sunset & sunset highfin platies — warm orange-to-red gradients with showy fins.
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Wagtail & tuxedo platies — bold contrasting fins and bodies.
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Variatus platies — slightly hardier strains with striking coloration.
Pair them with peaceful tetras or a nano fish community for a lively, colorful display.
🐟 Why Platies Are Great Beginner Fish
Platies are among the best freshwater fish for beginners. They are hardy, adaptable, colorful, and easy to care for, making them a popular choice for first-time aquarium owners. Their peaceful temperament also makes them excellent additions to community aquariums alongside tetras, corydoras, rasboras, and other beginner-friendly fish.
👶 Livebearer Fish
Platies belong to a group of fish known as livebearers, which also includes guppies, mollies, swordtails, and endlers. Unlike egg-laying fish, platies give birth to fully formed live fry, making them one of the easiest fish species to breed in home aquariums.
Platy Care Tips
Platies are wonderfully forgiving but still need a fully cycled, stable aquarium. They prefer slightly hard, neutral-to-alkaline water and do best with gentle filtration and some plant cover. Feed a varied diet of quality flakes, micro pellets, and occasional frozen or vegetable-based foods, since platies graze on algae and appreciate some plant matter. Keep up with regular water changes, and remember that a mixed-sex group will breed readily, so add live plants or floating plants to give fry places to hide.
Best Tank Mates for Platies
Platies are peaceful community fish that get along with most calm tankmates. Excellent matches include corydoras catfish, rasboras, peaceful loaches, and a shrimp or snail clean-up crew. Avoid keeping them with fin-nippers or large, aggressive fish.
FAQ: Platies
Are platies good for beginners? Yes — they're among the hardiest, most adaptable freshwater fish and a great choice for a first community tank once it's cycled.
Will my platies have babies? If you keep males and females together, almost certainly. Platies breed easily; add plant cover if you'd like fry to survive, or keep a single-sex group to manage numbers.
How many platies should I keep? A small group of three or more works well. Keeping more females than males helps reduce stress on the females.
What size tank do platies need? A 10- to 20-gallon tank suits a small group nicely. Bigger tanks give you more stability and room as the group grows.
Are platies good for community tanks? Yes. Platies are peaceful freshwater fish that mix well with tetras, rasboras, corydoras, shrimp, snails, and many other community aquarium species.
Do platies need to be kept in groups? While platies are not strict schooling fish, they are social and generally do best when kept with other platies. Small groups help encourage natural behavior and create a more active aquarium.
Aquarium hobbyists from Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Fort Collins, Greeley, Scottsbluff, and surrounding communities visit Tropical Treasures Wyo for healthy platies, livebearers, and community aquarium fish.
Stop by Tropical Treasures in Cheyenne or call us at 307-369-1118 and we'll help you pick out bright, healthy platies and build a peaceful livebearer community. New colors arrive regularly, so check back often.
