Editing Southern platyfish (section)

==In the aquarium==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2015}}
Platies are easy to keep and well suited to a community aquarium. They prefer water with a 7.0–8.0 [[pH]], a water hardness of 9.0–19.0 [[dGH]], and a temperature range of {{Convert|18|–|25|C}}.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hamilton|first=Thomas|date=1981|title=Platyfish: Versatile Animals for the Laboratory and Classroom|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/4447343.|journal=The American Biology Teacher|volume=43|issue=8|pages=426–472|doi=10.2307/4447343|jstor=4447343|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In captivity, they reach maturity in three to four months, and breed readily, the females giving birth to about 20–40 young at a time. Often young are eaten by the adults or other inhabitants of a communal aquarium but given plants and gravel to hide in,  some will probably survive as these are hardy fish. Platy young are first seen at approx 7mm long and will use cover to hide from predators and to look for food.  Specialist fry food is available but any flake food,  frozen or live food that floats their way will be easily consumed. These require excellent water quality and care must be taken to avoid fry being sucked up into a gravel cleaning syphon.  A thin membrane covering the syphon opening such as a clean pair of tights will minimise this.

The fish commonly sold in pet shops is not a pure strain of ''X. maculatus'', but is a hybrid between ''X. hellerii'' and ''X. maculatus''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-16 |title=Demystifying The Varying Degrees Of Swordtails And Platies |url=https://be.chewy.com/demystifying-the-varying-degrees-of-swordtails-and-platies/ |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=BeChewy |language=en-US}}</ref> In general, if the male has a sword-shaped tail, they are called swordtails. Otherwise, they are labeled platy. (However, this basic assessment does not take into consideration the undeniable fact that the majority of fishes sold as 'platies' do share the same stout form as the wild ''X. maculatus'', whilst aquarium 'hybrid' swordtail strains likewise share the longer, larger body-form of the wild ''X. hellerii'', so caudal extension is not the sole differentiator and it is clear that decades of selective breeding have reinforced, within each captive strain, the appropriate or typical – and therefore desired – body shape of the name types.) Color and fin shape vary wildly in the aquarium trade.

A common statement in the trade is that it is harder to stop them breeding than to make them do so, with ‘surprise’ fry appearing in community tanks regularly.