Platy Behaviour Turning Aggressive?

[justjon]

Hi all,

So today I got a new addition, another platy so that there were 3, all are male.

I noticed this morning even before getting the newest addition, that my black Platy was showing unusual behaviour, hiding within the plantation in the tank when the lights had been on a long time, and even in the coconut cave, I thought perhaps it was ill, and that I'd keep an eye on it.

What I've just noticed, with all 3, is that the 2 that were originally in there (including black one) are not getting on anymore? They used to swim about together etc.. now it seems that the black one is really afraid of the other, and I've seen the other one chasing the poor little black one away a lot.

Can anyone explain what could cause this behaviour change? It seems very strange, and last thing i'd want is to have to find a home for the orange one who seems to be bullying the little black guy, but it's unfair on him to be stressed and chased about.

 

[mtv8dmarine]

Your hiding platy is because it's being bullied from the sounds of it. I had a bad ratio before of male to female while I was cycling my tank. It seemed the females weren't as tolerant as the males were and died throwing the ratio out of whack. Your platies will want to mate and at times even with a 3 female to 1 male ratio will be aggressive towards each other. Occasionally, mine will still chase, dart, or ram another if the other gets too close to one of "his" females for that day.

That all being said, you need a better ratio than 3 males and no females. If your tank size can support at least 2 females for every male you have, then you will likely see a big improvement in behavior between males. They may be aggressive about a female here and there but it will be a marked improvement.