Are my Platies sick or pregnant?

[EarlStars]

hi everyone.

This is my first post. I’m very new to fish keeping. 10 weeks ago I got a new tank. I went through the process of cycling the tank and started to add fish a little over 4 weeks ago. The first I added were 3 female Platies. A week later I added a young male platy (I’ve since added some other species, honey gouramis and neon tetras).

I have watched them all very closely and they seem to be getting along and there has been no trouble among them. The male hasn’t seemed to bother the females to much. All the fish in the tank have seemed happy, very active and actually quite social (the larger female likes to chase me around the tank while I’m doing water changes. It’s fun.)

However, a couple of days ago I noticed a change in the behaviour of the female Platies. They have started spending much of their time inside a Japanese temple ornament hiding. They come out at feeding time and feed normally, but return to hiding soon after. I’m worried about this behaviour change.

Today I noticed that there is some redness around the gills of the yellow female platy. Now, I don’t know if it has always been there or if it’s a new development. I didn’t notice the red in the past, but to be honest I wasn’t looking for it. I read today that redness around the gills can be a sign of problems and after reading that I noticed the redness. So I’m guessing there’s a chance that it’s normal and has always been there and I’m only noticing it because of what I’ve read.

My biggest concern is the behaviour change. Could there be something wrong? Could they be sick or perhaps pregnant?

My water stats are as follows:
pH 7.5
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm

I’ve uploaded a heap of pictures to the below Imgur account. I would really appreciate it if someone could take a look and let me know what you think.

https://imgur.com/gallery/rAilu

Thanks heaps

 

[Colin_T]

Platies hiding in an ornament is not normal behaviour. They are stressed by something, possibly another fish or something else. If you don't have any floating plants in the tank perhaps add some Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thallictroides), or even add a couple of plastic plants and let them float on the surface.

Monitor the other fish and see if anyone is chasing the females, it could be the male or any other fish in the tank.

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Does it happen all the time or only in the morning, at night?

In the morning open the curtains and then wait 30minutes or longer before turning the tank light on.
At night turn the room light on, then turn the tank light off, then wait 30minutes or more before turning the room light out.

If you have cats or other pets, or children in the house, make sure they aren't stressing the fish out by tapping the glass or waving their arms about when near the tank.

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The fish in the pictures look fine, altho the yellow platy has partly clamped fins in the first couple, but that can be stress or the fish was simply moving its fins when you took the photo.

 

[mikey11]

Platties are very active curious fish who should be constantly swimming when healthy, if they are staying in one spot or hiding they are either stressed or sick, or both.....

pregnancy does not normally affect their behaviour at all, and would not be the cause of this

 

[EarlStars]

Thank you for your responses. That’s what I thought. I definitely keep an eye out for what might be stressing them,

This is a picture of the female I’m most worried about. Is the red around her gill area normal?

 

[EarlStars]

Platies hiding in an ornament is not normal behaviour. They are stressed by something, possibly another fish or something else. If you don't have any floating plants in the tank perhaps add some Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thallictroides), or even add a couple of plastic plants and let them float on the surface.

Monitor the other fish and see if anyone is chasing the females, it could be the male or any other fish in the tank.

---------------------
Does it happen all the time or only in the morning, at night?

In the morning open the curtains and then wait 30minutes or longer before turning the tank light on.
At night turn the room light on, then turn the tank light off, then wait 30minutes or more before turning the room light out.

If you have cats or other pets, or children in the house, make sure they aren't stressing the fish out by tapping the glass or waving their arms about when near the tank.

---------------------
The fish in the pictures look fine, altho the yellow platy has partly clamped fins in the first couple, but that can be stress or the fish was simply moving its fins when you took the photo.

Thanks Colin

I’ll try the curtains thing tomorrow.

It happened most of the day yesterday and for a few hours when I got home from wRk tonight. No pets and children aren’t here this week.

They did come out tonight and were acting normally for most of the evening after I wrote this thread. So i’ll Keep an eye on them very closely. I have tomorrow off work so can monitor throughout the day.