Advice on Platy Fish??

[AmericanPastoral]

What’s a good starter fish for kids and are platy fish suitable? We’ve been offered a couple of platy fish by a friend. While looking into what sort of tank to buy I’m reading about tales of the fish giving birth and other fish eating the babies which might be a bit upsetting for our dds. Other sites seem to say they’re a good starter fish. Any advice?? And what size tank would we need to get? Thanks.

Platys should be pretty tough and hardy and good for beginners.

I would go for a long tank with space, something about 1.5-2ft long would be great, with a good lid, good filter and a heater too.

If you keep an all-male group you wouldn't have the issue of babies. Females can have up to 40 babies every month, even have up to three spawns over a 6 month period with no male around. You end up being thankful the parents eat some ;)

If you look up how to sex livebearing fish, there are loads of pictures. The boys have a pointy bottom fin and the girls a triangular one.

If your friends already have a tank, ask them to snip off the corner of their filter foam for you to put in your new filter. Keep that sponge wet during transit in a fish bag. This will help "cycle" your tank - read up on the nitrogen cycle. Every new tank goes through it but the first stages can kill fish.