Should I Add More Fish To My Tank?

[emilythestrange]

Hi,

My recent stock for my 100 litre tank is:

1 male platy (around 2inches i guess - this is the bully)
1 male chocolate molly 2 inches, if that
1 albino corydora 3 inches
3 neon tetras (trying to phase out)
1 male albino molly about 1 inch

I added 4 small male platies yesterday morning (less than 1 inch) they all seem great...
However... My male platy which i have had for a long time is constantly chasing my smaller platies around, particularly a sunset one with black tail. The big platy is swimming at high speed through the plants and into the hiding spots to chase the fish out and around the tank in circles, leaving the small one tired and always darting wary of any movements. He occasionly chases the other platies.

Should i add any more small platies to my tank? And when would it be safe to do so as i really dont want any newbies being chased to death !

Any advice would be a great help, thanks !

 

[fluffycabbage]

they probably need to let off some man steam joking aside , maybe all males isnt a good idea And corys like to be in groups too.

 

[emilythestrange]

they probably need to let off some man steam joking aside , maybe all males isnt a good idea And corys like to be in groups too.

hmmm... ive not really had any problems before, just this one fish really, whereas the mollies arent bothered.
I couldnt go through another male & female tank, though the agression is nearly as bad at the moment.
I thought maybe adding a few more platies may spread the agression out... but im not sure if thats a good idea and i dont know how long i should leave it..
I did have another cory, but i will look for a companion in the future, after this fiasco is sorted

 

[emilythestrange]

*Bump*

 

[Twinklecaz]

Hiya

I had a similar problem with a male Platy and tried the usual anti-bullying techniques but in the end I had to just take him back to the LFS. He used to pick on one in particular and he was a shadow of the fish he is now.

All male Platys can work but you have to be prepared for bullies I think. They don't have the reputation for it but I think Platys have as much individual personality as the likes of Gouramis do. I now have 3 male Platys in my tank who get along fine. They all chase each other (maybe one gets it slightly more than the other two) but it's relatively equal and they all hang around together too so I know none of them feel bullied or are frightened.

So yes my advice would be take the bully back or if you don't want to get him his own tank.

 

[emilythestrange]

Update :

Nearly a month later, i focused on getting more platies for my tanka s i love them so much ! haha.


I now have :

8 male platies,
1 corydora,
3 neon tetras
and 2 male mollies.

As this is in a 100 litre tank.. How am i looking in terms of stocking? Am i up to my limit on this?

 

[Jenste]

you are looking pretty good...if I were you though I would

1) buy 3 more albino corydoras to make a school
2) buy at least 2 more neon tetras to make a shoal


then I think all of your fish will be quite happy

 

[emilythestrange]

you are looking pretty good...if I were you though I would

1) buy 3 more albino corydoras to make a school
2) buy at least 2 more neon tetras to make a shoal


then I think all of your fish will be quite happy

soroughly how many inches of fish would you say i could add to have a good amount of room for the fish.

 

[nigsy]

Corys like to be in medium sized schools of a least 4 fish, 6+ would be better. They will also help keep the waste levels down in the tank as they eat anything that makes it to the bottom.

If you are phasing the neons out - you maybe better to find someone who has neons take them off you -or you could end up with one lonley neon for a long time!

 

[alex.wardle]

re home your tetras and get some Galaxy Rasbora. Such a lovely little fish about 2cm fully grown. You can keep quite a few, lovely coloration on them, very good swimmers and like to shoal. you could probly ad 10,