I have two platys that i recently acquired, one big one and one little one. i think they're both males, the little one looks a bit shook, lastnight i saw the bigger one ramming into its side repetadly...i thought they were supposed to be peaceful fish!! he was biting his tail also. what the hell is he playin at??
Fighting platys
- Thread starter Jentry
- Start date
Jentry platies on the whole are very peaceful fish. I keep 5 males in a 50 gallon tank and they get on very well. I have never seen them fight. This is obviously a territorial thing going on here. How big is your tank? and how densely is it planted? Maybe if you put more plants/places to hide for the little one the bigger one will attack it less.
If the tank is overcrowded, platies can get a bit aggressive. What size tank do you have, and how many occupants? It is also probably the size difference between the two males. Were they tankmates where you bought them? Could be that you just got a tempermental platy as well. Is the bigger one actually biting the smaller one (i.e. chunks out of the tail)? My platies and other livebearers (mollies and a guppy) all chase each other without anyone ever showing battle scars even when it looks less like play and more like pissed off fish.
yeh the little guys tail is not looking too healthy. i don't have many fish in there yet, still a beiginner
just have 4 neon tetras (there were 6, little guys have my heart broken!), the 2 platys, 2 chinese algae eaters(i think, golden ones, were called golden sucking loaches in the shop), 1 male guppy and one african dwarf frog. its a 15 gallon tank. i dont have any live plants in there yet, waiting on my stupid pet shop to order some.
they were tank mates before yeh
ps nerdguy your guppy is lovely, i cant wait to get more of them. was just tryin to take a pic of mine to show ye but he wont stay still!!
the bigger one is probably twice the size, lil guy hides out in the bog wood a bit but he seems to be hangin around the surface a bit now. every other fish in there is really healthy, the bully (mickey mouse) is not going for the guppys tail at all. weird huh?
just have 4 neon tetras (there were 6, little guys have my heart broken!), the 2 platys, 2 chinese algae eaters(i think, golden ones, were called golden sucking loaches in the shop), 1 male guppy and one african dwarf frog. its a 15 gallon tank. i dont have any live plants in there yet, waiting on my stupid pet shop to order some.they were tank mates before yeh
ps nerdguy your guppy is lovely, i cant wait to get more of them. was just tryin to take a pic of mine to show ye but he wont stay still!!
the bigger one is probably twice the size, lil guy hides out in the bog wood a bit but he seems to be hangin around the surface a bit now. every other fish in there is really healthy, the bully (mickey mouse) is not going for the guppys tail at all. weird huh?
well not 100 %, thats what i though it might be too, sexual frustration or something but they bothe seem to have weeners....i dunno the proper name. even though the lil one never sticks it out, could that just be a fin?jennypenny said:
Like nerdy guy says you may just have a tempremental fish but there is probably also a size issue here. In future when getting fish from your petstore inspect them before you take them and make sure the fish are of a similar size.
Oh and pester the shop for those plants as it sounds like they are badly needed
Oh and pester the shop for those plants as it sounds like they are badly needed
Male platies together can get aggressive with no females around. From my experience I'd say a minimum of 20 gallons densely planted with lots of hiding places for 2 of them. The 3 I have now in a 20 gallon seem to work out - but the 2 sunbursts pretty much ignore the 1 gold for some reason.
I had been trying to keep the 2 sunburst males in a 10 gallon with no females around and all they did was fight round and round the tank - they still have scars from fin and scale tearing. I moved them to a 20 gallon, and they still fight every so often, but not so violently. They have areas of territory now.
Most folks would recommend keeping 1 male for every 2 or 3 females. Of course then you getting them breeding like fishy rabbits.
I had been trying to keep the 2 sunburst males in a 10 gallon with no females around and all they did was fight round and round the tank - they still have scars from fin and scale tearing. I moved them to a 20 gallon, and they still fight every so often, but not so violently. They have areas of territory now.
Most folks would recommend keeping 1 male for every 2 or 3 females. Of course then you getting them breeding like fishy rabbits.
Well webcricket when i went to my lfs i asked for 1 male and 4 females. At the time iw asnt sure how to sex them and then afterwards I realised he had given me 5 males!! Anyway I kept them and they get on fine. They are mickey mouse platies. I have never seen any aggression but my tank is very densely planted.
yeh it seems like kind of a catch 22. do platys and guppies ever interbreed by any chance?
im dyin to get my hands on some cool underwater plants. theres literally one pet shop that stocks them in my city, and everything they have at the mo is dyin!
i might get 2 female platys so, i know the ratio still wont be right but i want to get another guppy or two and another adf, don't want the thing to be overflowing with fish.
then theres the breeding like rabbits thing though. maybe once i get more plants they might calm down.
thanks for all yer help I appreciate it
im dyin to get my hands on some cool underwater plants. theres literally one pet shop that stocks them in my city, and everything they have at the mo is dyin!
i might get 2 female platys so, i know the ratio still wont be right but i want to get another guppy or two and another adf, don't want the thing to be overflowing with fish.
then theres the breeding like rabbits thing though. maybe once i get more plants they might calm down.
thanks for all yer help I appreciate it