Sick Platy And Fighting Angles

[OpalEyes]

I have 1 13 gallon tank and a smallers 21 liter tank in the larger tank i have platys, guppies, ballon mollys neon tetras and 2 albino cat fish. In the larger tank. one of the female platys lays on the bottom of the tank almost all the time will only swim for about a hour a day, though she does swim up to eat. any ideas on what is wrong did i full check on here coudnt see any signs of illnesses. Added some methly blue to be sure 2 days ago but that didnt change her behvior.

In the Smaller tank i have 2 clown loaches and had 2 angle fish. One is a kio angle and was always slighlty larger than the 2nd angle which was silver. when we bought the silver angle fish it looked like it had be attack as its top fin had a huge hole in it and it only had one dorsal fin. a few days later the fin turned red and even with the addition of fin rot medication it did not survive. A few days later we replaced the dead angle with a new one of smaller size and again silver. But the slightly large kio angle fish occasionly chasses this fish around the tank, but i dont understand it because most of the time it will happly swim with it but then just push it behind the tree it. it didnt do this with the other angle fish any ideas why? i need help as the smaller angle seems to be quite distressed and im consinrded about it.

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

You have 2 problems there, over stocking on a massive scale is the main one and keeping fish which grow far too large in such a small space is the other.

First the "big" tank how many fish are in there and what are the ratios of males and females with the livebeareres, is it possible the platy is being picked on by other fish. As a general guide for the types of fish you have in the tank you should aim to have an inch of adult size fish per gallon of water.

For the smaller tank you fish need rehoming asap clown loaches like to live in groups and grow 12 inches long. Angel fish being cichlids should have 10 gallons per fish so they can set up territorys, angels should also have a tank 18 inches deep as they grow 8 inches not including the fins. Your smaller fish will just get harrassed to death by the bigger one.

Are both the tanks fully cycled? What are the readings for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte?

Emma

 

[silver tipped]

Hi,

I agree with emma12321 about your smaller tank. Both the angels and clown fish need bigger homes.

As for the larger tank, well I do agree to an extent about the ratio thing. In theory there should be 1 male platy to 2/3 females. When there are fewer females, 1 may get harrassed constantly. However in my 15g tank I have 3 females and 3 males. The only time any 1 female gets harrassed is if she is about to give birth (the males then hassle her so that she gives birth and they get a quick snack). I do haev lots of plants though and hiding places so maybe thats why I don't have any problems.

Could she be pregnant? My platies when they are close to giving birth stay on the bottom and only come up to feed.

I would make sure you have plenty of hiding places for her (caves, tunnels and plants), check she is not pregnant, (very large and a gravid spot by her anal fin), also check all your water parameters (to make sure there is no spike)

Hope this helps