Squabbling Platty's!

[AmyStardust]

I've got 2 male platy's and the past couple of days the smaller one has been really bullying the other one!

Is there anything I can do to discourage this??

 

[Pleccy]

How big is your tank? Make sure there is plenty of decor to provide retreats for the fish, also adding a few more fish might help.

 

[jonnyf84]

are they both males? If so this is reasonably normal behaviour.

 

[AmyStardust]

They're both males and I have 2 sizable plants and a fairly large ornament for them to hide in...

It's 5 Gallons and they're also in with 4 ghost shrimp!

I've been debating about introducing 1 or 2 guppies at some point...

The only think that I'm a bit concerned about at the mo is that the one that's being picked on has developed a small white spot on his tail, about 2mm big... Is that something I should worry about??

 

[saz326]

I've got 2 male platy's and the past couple of days the smaller one has been really bullying the other one!

Is there anything I can do to discourage this??

Until the problem is resolved, or resolves itself: when feeding put a bit on each side of the tank so the bullying fish can be kept busy while the little-un finds food the other side of the tank.

Make sure there are plenty of ladies around to keep the bully distracted.

 

[AmyStardust]

I've got 2 male platy's and the past couple of days the smaller one has been really bullying the other one!

Is there anything I can do to discourage this??

Until the problem is resolved, or resolves itself: when feeding put a bit on each side of the tank so the bullying fish can be kept busy while the little-un finds food the other side of the tank.

Make sure there are plenty of ladies around to keep the bully distracted.

I do try to make sure that they both have they're fair share of the food!!

The think is I don't really want to introduce any females as I'm going to be over-run with fry before too long...

Are the guppies likely to calm down the bully AKA Sausage??

 

[jonnyf84]

the white mark will probably be from the nipping, keep a eye on this as it could easily become infected. There is not enough hiding places in your tank, platys have decent eye sight and they could easily see each other from behind a single plant, and if there is only one cave then the bully platy will know exactly where to look. As above if you have room in your tank add some females, at least 1 male to 3 females is the general rule.

 

[chesterscot]

amy looking like more plattys could be an option just get some different coloured ones or something the parents will find most of the fry and eat them anyway
scot

 

[AmyStardust]

amy looking like more plattys could be an option just get some different coloured ones or something the parents will find most of the fry and eat them anyway
scot

Oh god not more of them - I'm finding it hard keeping up with the 2 I've got!!! Lol!

Aren't they live barers though?? Doesn't that mean they have live young??

 

[chesterscot]

yeah there live bearers they dont lay eggs but they will still eat their own fry
scot

 

[jonnyf84]

you should expect 30ish fry every month from each mature platy.

 

[AmyStardust]

yeah there live bearers they dont lay eggs but they will still eat their own fry
scot

Yeah, ok, um - as girly and pathetic as this sounds I'm not going to be able to sleep at night if I know they're in the front room eating baby fish!!

 

[chesterscot]

lol theyd mostly be gone b4 you saw them anyway
scot

 

[AmyStardust]

lol theyd mostly be gone b4 you saw them anyway
scot

But I would still know Scot, I would still know!!!! Lol!

You're talking to someone who once spent £160 on an operation for a hamster cus I couldn't have him out to sleep! He only cost £5 when I bought him!!!!

 

[Athena]

Hi - I don't think a 5 gallon tank is big enough to put too many more fish in, to be honest. Putting too many in that small area of tank space could end up causing more problems with bullying than you have already.

Also, if you did put a couple of females in there and they had fry, don't bank on all the fry getting eaten - I have a tank with two adult platies, an adult molly, a female betta and a red tailed black shark - when the platies had a batch of fry a while back, 10 of them survived and are now about an inch in length and I've had to re-house some of them into other tanks! There are also 3 slightly smaller fry that survived a more recent batch. Now, you'd think with those 4 other adult fish in the tank that no fry would survive!

Athena