New Female Platy is Hiding, is it Because of My Guppy?

[wolfgirlj]

Tank is 20 gallon

1 dwarf gourami
2 mystery snails
6 neon tetras
1 female guppy
1 female platy (added two days ago)

The last water change was the day before I got the platy, and water conditions matched the store conditions.

The platy has seemed a little on edge since added, but not darting around the tank. She swims slowly, picks off the floor like the others, has explored most of the tank, and has come up for food with the rest at feeding time. She gets startled when the light changes (but all do for a moment before calming down seconds later)
Anyway, I noticed my female guppy was following her earlier today. I saw no nipping, but a few hours later, I come back to see her tail fin a little closed, and hiding next to the centerpiece fake reef rock (big hiding spot) There are also a lot of fake plant decor, and a large, healthy moss ball. I'm thinking of getting more plants, at least more marimo moss.

The other fish don't bother her, and the guppy doesn't bother anyone else. Is the tank too small? (I'm thinking that's a main issue I plan to solve as soon as possible if this continues, been looking at new tanks)
Is it just that the guppy is curious to the new platy or territorial?
Is the platy hiding because of being in a new tank?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in the tank water (in numbers please)?

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Guppies and platies come from water with a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0.
Dwarf gouramis and neon tetras come from water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

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Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

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Fish can become nervous and hide due to poor water quality, stress and bullying. In this case it's probably bullying with the guppy wanting to be in charge and picking on the platy.

Livebearers are social fishes but also have a pecking order with a dominant fish in charge of the group and everyone else is lower down the ranks. The guppy is in charge and picking on the platy to make sure she stays lower down the order.

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Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks just to make sure the water is good and the fish doesn't develop an infection from being picked on.

Add more plants to provide more hiding places.

If the platy continues to be picked on in a week, then they will need to be separated.

 

[wolfgirlj]

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in the tank water (in numbers please)?

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Guppies and platies come from water with a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0.
Dwarf gouramis and neon tetras come from water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

-----------------------
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

-----------------------
Fish can become nervous and hide due to poor water quality, stress and bullying. In this case it's probably bullying with the guppy wanting to be in charge and picking on the platy.

Livebearers are social fishes but also have a pecking order with a dominant fish in charge of the group and everyone else is lower down the ranks. The guppy is in charge and picking on the platy to make sure she stays lower down the order.

-----------------------
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks just to make sure the water is good and the fish doesn't develop an infection from being picked on.

Add more plants to provide more hiding places.

If the platy continues to be picked on in a week, then they will need to be separated.

Thank you for the lighting advice and info for the territorial behavior. I will try to get back to you with the numbers. The tank is in the middle of its third month since initial set up.

EDIT: Since I'm still a little new to aquarium care (relatively speaking... I'm trying to get the best info as possible, and a lot of different sites say different things. The strips measure by relatively large integers.)

Nitrate- 6
Nitrite- 0
GH- 250 (any advice for hardness?)
pH- 8 (usually it's been at 7.5, and I've heard of using vinegar to lower it. Is there any advice for balancing pH regularly, where it is fit for all tank members?)

 

[FishGuest5123]

I have had some platies that are shy for a bit but come around after several days. Best of luck and please keep us posted.

 

[Colin_T]

You want the ammonia and nitrite on 0 and the nitrate below 20ppm. Your nitrite and nitrate appear fine.

Your guppy and platy are fine with a GH of 250ppm but the tetras and gouramis would prefer it lower. If you add some distilled water or reverse osmosis (R/O) water (about 1 part R/O or distilled to 3 parts tap water) it will lower the GH and pH a bit and make it better for the gouramis and tetras but still keep it higher enough for the livebearers.

The fish do better with a stable pH even if it's a bit high, so don't worry too much about trying to drop it. If you use a mixture of tap water and distilled or R/O water, it will lower the pH as well as the GH.