Bully platies [freshwater]

[Man with the platy fish]

Hi everyone I am new here but I am desperate for help. My grey mickey mouse platy is constantly chasing my beautiful red, orange, and yellow mickey mouse platy. I tried rearranging the decor but now my yellow platy occasionally nips at him too. I don't want to remove the grey one because I purchased him with a faded tail (caused by extreme stress) and he needs a owner (like me) who acknowledges that. The water quality is good, and if it is abiut food, how much should I feed 3 adult platies (example 3 teaspoons or something). Please answer as soon as possible.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well... the biggest question is regarding the genders of these fish. You said 'he'... but are you sure its a male?


Platies are livebearers which means they are constantly looking to breed. Males will harrass females unmercifully, which is why the general recommendation is 2-3 females per male in a tank. This gives each of the ladies a bit of a break. But, if you only have 1 female and 2 males... that's a terrible situation. The one lady will be harrassed non-stop. When it comes to livebearers, its always best to stick to either a mixed group with more females than males... or go with males only.

To identify their gender, check the anal fin. If its 'fan-like', that's a female. If its 'pointy', that's a male. Google "gonopodium" for images. Also, watch for a while, sometimes females can keep that fin clamped (especially if stressed) and look like a male, but not be.

 

[Man with the platy fish]

Yes they are all males. At the store I checked the tank 3 times to ensure they were all male. All 3 fish the special pointy fin called a gonopodium. I have a book on platies that tells me everything but bullying

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Nice. Ok... well, the answer next is that adding a few more males would likely spread that aggression out. Adding 2 more would work. Keep an eye on that last one. Fish will turn on weak, injured or sick individuals. In the wild, sick/injured fish attract predators, so its not in their best interest to have them around.

 

[Man with the platy fish]

That makes sense. I have a API stress coat handy for patching up his dorsal fin, it has a few nips in it(not big just tiny scratches). Says it will help heal fins and reduce stress with the healing power of aloe vera. I will have to find out and see if it works. Thanks again eaglesaquarium for the help, I really appreciate it.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I have 2 male platies. They chase each other all over the place but sleep together too. Occasionally they get tired of chasing each other and will gang up to chase a guppy for awhile. I think a lot of the time their chasing is more playing as I don’t see any nipping or aggression. They are father and son. Keep an eye on them to be sure they aren’t hurting each other. Hopefully the nipping will stop. The chasing may not.

 

[Moss Ball]

I had a similar issue with mollies, i had the right mix of males to females yet it was the girlies chasing eachother.
They will establish a boss in both genders so the only real way to fix it is numbers, more means more fish to bully yes but it also means its unlikely to be the same one bullied all the time.

That said, some fish are just mean, and im pretty sure fish are colour racist,lol, my thick lipped gourami does not like my sunset molly but does not bother any other fish in my tank, its odd,lol

 

[KrystaK]

Another suggestion for decreasing aggression (works with pretty much every species of fish) add more hiding spots and try to break up the lines of sight across the tank. So more decorations (even something as simple as a clay pot) work well. The extra hiding spots give the bullied fish a place to hide and rest. Breaking lines of sight in the tank means the aggressive fish will be less likely to see the other fish, or will be less likely to chase it as far because he will loose sight of it (and hopefully get distracted by something else). Platy's (at least mine) swim at all levels of the tank, so I would recommend leaving some plants (either real or fake) floating on the surface, as well anchored in the substrate.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Great suggestion, KrystaK! I do this too and it does help. Plants and caves are great deterrents.