Women! Cant You Get Along?

[Leitch]

My female platys are (as far as i know) not getting on very well.

I have a :
large orange platy (Bubbles - First to attack the airstone)
, a black platy (Izit - "Is it cos i is black? - Ali G")
and a small red coral platy (Wee Rouge)

So anyway. A few weeks ago, the small platy (WeeRouge) would bump into the lagrer orange one on sight. But now they are the best of friends and never are apart. However Weerouge is now bumping into the black one (Izit) and i think its bullying (dam racist fish).

I could be wrong, i mean, its not a seek and destroy situation, and there are planty of hiding places, but i just dont like seeing the black platy zoom around the tank in fear.

Maybe im just being over-cautious. maybe they are just playing...some sort of hardcore tig.

Either way im wondering if theres anything i can do to stop it?

 

[targa66]

They should be ok - I've got two female swordtails and two female platys and one male swordtail and they all chase each other around endlessly. The pecking order changes, too (often seems to change when one is pregnant - the pregnant one gets more submissive). The male chases them all and it sometimes gets a bit frantic but as long as they're not overstocked and you have plenty of plants to hide in they should be fine.

 

[Squidman]

I agree with Targa66, getting loads of plants will provide the space fish need to hide away from the agressive fishies in the tank.

 

[Leitch]

Yea i have a cave which provides 2 or more hiding places, a large bushy plant which must provide a good amount and also a small red plant in the corner which provides the best hiding place.

 

[backtotropical]

You may find that adding a male would help as the attention of the male would keep them busy................................although you would also end up with hundreds of fry. Just a thought.

 

[SouthernCross]

Yeah, if you have other fish that will eat them you shouldn't have much of a fry problem. I have a M/F/F platy trio in my tank (see stocking in my sig) and I never, ever see a single fry. And I have loads of plants.