Fish Keep Fighting

[goldfish98]

Hi, two weeks ago I won a goldfish at the carnival, so I went to the store and bought a 10 gallon tank. After 5 days, the goldfish got stuck on the filter and died. That same day, I went to petco and bought one HiFin Platy and one marigold wag swordtail. They have been getting along well for the past few days, but today I noticed that the marigold wag swordtail is chasing and bumping into the HiFin Platy, which causes it to dart away to the other side of the tank, The Hifin keeps trying to follow the swordtail, but the swordtail keeps driving it away. What is going on, and will the Hifin die? 

 

 

[BerryAttack]

well you probably didn't cycle your tank, with the unstable stats of the tank it is affecting the fish's mood and health which makes it act out.
sometimes swordtail and platy will breed with one another, you probably have a male and female, which makes it dart at one another.
 
i would advise to now do a fish in cycle, this site has loads of info on it.

 

[goldfish98]

Do all swordtails have a fin that looks like a sword? Does it depend on gender? Because the one I have does not have it. I was told that the fish are the same gender. 

 

[Lillefishy]

Swordtails & platys will interbreed, so you could have a male sword & a female platy hence the chasing.
The tank is also too small for the swordtail & it sounds like your filter isn't cycled either so you need to be doing daily water changes , have you got a test kit?

 

[goldfish98]

I believe the Swordtail is a female because it lacks a "sword". When I bought them I was told they were both the same gender. 

 

[Lillefishy]

It could be a juvenile male & hasn't developed the sword yet, can you get some side on clear pics of them?

 

[goldfish98]

Hmm, pictures would be tricky because they are very fast, but I do have a video I took yesterday. Is it possible to post that? 

 

[Lillefishy]

That would help, sorry not sure how to post videos here, maybe a you tube link or you could use photobucket

 

[goldfish98]

Okay, hang on, ill see what I can do. 

 

[Lillefishy]

The video won't play properly for me on an ipad but the bit I saw did look like 2 females, maybe someone will be able to see properly for you

 

[goldfish98]

It won't play? Odd. 

 

[Nordk]

It could be possible that your swordtail is a platy-sword hybrid, as the 2 species easily interbreed. To cut down on the chasing, add some plants to give the platy some cover to hide in.
Lastly, as BerryAttack said, you need to do a fish-in cycle on your tank. You can read up on it from the first link in my sig.

 

[goldfish98]

I would imagine that the goldfish already cycled it, am I correct? Also, I did a water change and they are swimming frantically, but they are still fighting.

 

[Ninjouzata]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/ This link is for a fishless cycle, but should help you get an idea of what is going on in the tank.
As well as that definitely have a read through the link in Nordk's signature.
 
5 days is not long enough to cycle a tank, so no, the goldfish did not cycle it. Definitely pick up a liquid test kit as soon as you can.

 

[goldfish98]

I certainly will get a test kit.

Man that one fish from the carnival made me spend $200 at Petco...