Sunset Wagtail Platy - Xiphophorus maculatus

Sunset Wagtail Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus)

The Sunset Wagtail Platy is a bright, hardy and colourful livebearer, loved for its warm sunset-orange to golden body colour and contrasting dark black wagtail fins. This captive-bred platy variety is peaceful, active and easy to care for, making it a fantastic choice for beginner-friendly freshwater community aquariums. Like other platies, it does best in clean, stable, moderately hard to hard water with peaceful tank mates and plenty of planted cover.

Common Name:
Sunset Wagtail Platy. Also commonly referred to as the Sunset Platy, Wagtail Platy, Sunset Red Wagtail Platy, Southern Platyfish or Common Platy.

Scientific Name (Latin):
Xiphophorus maculatus

Maximum Size:
Around 5–6 cm in captivity, with females usually becoming slightly larger and fuller-bodied than males.

Water Type:
Freshwater

Origin / Natural Habitat:
The Sunset Wagtail Platy is a captive-bred aquarium strain. The wild form of Xiphophorus maculatus is native to North and Central America, from Mexico through to Belize, where it occurs in warm springs, canals, ditches, creeks and swampy waters with slow movement, silty bottoms and weedy margins.

Water Parameters:
Temperature: 22–26°C
pH Range: 7.0–8.2
Hardness: moderately hard to hard water preferred

Temperament:
Peaceful and active. It is suitable for community aquariums with other calm, similarly sized fish. Males may chase females, especially in smaller groups, so mixed-sex groups are best kept with more females than males.

Diet:
Omnivorous. It should be offered a varied diet including quality flake, small pellets, algae-based foods, spirulina, blanched vegetables and frozen or live foods such as daphnia, brineshrimp and bloodworm. Vegetable matter is useful for long-term health, colour and digestion.

Minimum Tank Size:
A practical recommendation is at least 60 litres for a small group, with larger aquariums preferred if keeping multiple livebearers or allowing fry to grow on.

Behaviour & Activity:
This is an active mid-level livebearer that spends much of the day swimming, grazing and exploring the aquarium. It is not a tight shoaling fish, but it does best in small groups. Females give birth to free-swimming fry, so numbers can increase quickly in a mixed-sex group. Floating plants, fine-leaved plants and dense cover can help provide shelter for fry.

Aquarium Category:
Community Fish
This species is peaceful and works well with other freshwater community fish that enjoy similar harder, alkaline water conditions. Suitable tank mates include other platies, mollies, swordtails, peaceful rainbowfish, danios, small barbs, Corydoras suited to similar conditions and bristlenose plecos. Avoid aggressive fish, persistent fin nippers, large predators and very soft-water species that prefer acidic conditions.

Special Requirements or Care Notes:
Best kept in clean, stable water with good filtration, regular maintenance and enough minerals to support livebearer health. Avoid very soft acidic water, as platies generally do not thrive long-term in those conditions. If keeping males and females together, a ratio of one male to two or more females can help reduce constant attention on individual females. As with most livebearers, this variety may breed readily in the aquarium.

Suitable for:
Beginner fishkeepers

Availability:
Common in trade, usually as captive-bred stock

All images are a visual representation of the fish you will receive, made to be as accurate as possible. Please note that Mother Nature is a wonderful thing, and variation in patterns and colours will occur — that is part of the unique beauty of these animals.