Female platy is a bully

[jemscfc]

The yellow platy pictured seems to be bullying the others. Mixed genders. Should I be worried? I have no way to separate them unfortunately. Sadly I lost a male last week and there wasn’t even a corpse so I’m wondering if she ate him?!

 

[HoldenOn]

Is your tank cycled? It's more likely he decomposed, which would lead to a spike in ammonia.

 

[jemscfc]

Yes it is, I posted on here last week because the deceased fish was swimming up on the surface almost acting strange.
A test showed levels were all pretty good apart from nitrates so I did a 75% change on Sunday to attempt to rectify that. All other fish very healthy and even have 2 fry swimming about that have been born in the last few days.

 

[jemscfc]

Actually just did a test, nitrates are almost there. All other levels excellent.

 

[HoldenOn]

Interesting. I'm not much of a livebearer person but I think its unlikely that a platy ate another fish.
@AdoraBelle Dearheart @NCaquatics @AilyNC

 

[AilyNC]

Can't see it. Maybe some pecking at a body but eating it all? Search under decorations in case it got stuck.

As far as being a bully I've experienced a single female Molly as a bully to all other fish and make platy is the worst bully.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Interesting. I'm not much of a livebearer person but I think its unlikely that a platy ate another fish.
@AdoraBelle Dearheart @NCaquatics @AilyNC

All of the other fish might well have eaten the corpse, sure.

 

[CassCats]

A body died of other causes would be scavenged by anyone, yes.

That said, livebearers will bully unhealthy fish, so keep that in mind to watch.


But also livebearer females can get more aggressive closer to having fry.

 

[AilyNC]

All of the other fish might well have eaten the corpse, sure.

Tasty.

 

[Back in the fold]

Don't worry about live bearers being bullies. The male jumped out . Look around.

 

[HoldenOn]

Don't worry about live bearers being bullies. The male jumped out . Look around.

I thought that too.

 

[Colin_T]

The red male platy is stressed, has clamped fins and covered in excess mucous. This is usually caused by poor water quality or something in the water irritating the fish.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

-------------------
In the wild, female livebearers hang out in large groups consisting of between 20 & 50 (but sometimes up to 100 or more) females. These groups have a pecking order with the biggest most dominant female ruling the group and she has a group of girlfriends who back her up. All the other females live in the group but are lower down the pecking order.

The groups of females move around rivers and waterways looking for food and places to hang out. As the groups move around a few males follow the group and try to breed with any females. The groups of males have a pecking order too and the biggest male will bully his smaller mates.

Your female platy is top dog and is bullying the smaller weaker fish.

 

[goldfish_is_orange]

Don't worry about live bearers being bullies. The male jumped out . Look around.

My first thought, on account of "no corpse".