Petsmart Platies are mostly if not all female?

[Rosegardener]

I have 7 mickey mouse platies from Petsmart, surprisingly, all of them were female. They have really colored up in my tank, active, good appetite and seems to be quite happy. I went to LFS and got a male platy, after two months, no babies! They all seems to be active and well, water quality is good.

Shall I try to buy a few more males? Again I have to go to LFS for them as most if not all platies in my local Petsamrt were female. Just curious, why so many females from farms with so few males? Quite sure Petsmart or wholesalers wouldn't spend time sorting gender, right?

 

[RayClem]

Be careful for what you wish for. You might just get it.

I started with two female and one male platies in my 55 gallon tank. Within a couple of months, my tank had so many platies that I cannot count them. They range in size from less than 1/4" up to 2". If you have a tank smaller than mine, I would suggest that you not have both males and females in the same tank. You will quickly be overwhelmed once they start breeding.

 

[Rosegardener]

Be careful for what you wish for. You might just get it.

I started with two female and one male platies in my 55 gallon tank. Within a couple of months, my tank had so many platies that I cannot count them. They range in size from less than 1/4" up to 2". If you have a tank smaller than mine, I would suggest that you not have both males and females in the same tank. You will quickly be overwhelmed once they start breeding.

Not complaining about lack of babies, as I was sort of expecting that type of problem, but surprised with no action at all lol.

 

[emeraldking]

Well, first you need to know that the females decide wether they'll allow a male to mate with them. A male can chase them the whole day but if a female is not in the mood to mate with this male, no mating will take place. It does happen as well that females can be choosy...
Also being sure wether a platy is a male or female, is not always easy in swordtails and platies. Late males are also a normal phenomenon in both swordtails and platies. A late male will show the male characteristics at adult size.