Male Platy With Issues

Hellhole

I have a ten gallon tank. There is two female platys and one Male. The male cozys up to one female but tries attacking the other female and aggressively chases after her. I have no idea why he would do this. Maybe she is defective?

BTW does anyone have a picture(s) of a pregnant Platy? I need a visual reference...


Thanks

frogman6

you'll know if one gets pregnant but if u look on yahoo it should show you one for your male i have no idea about that

Lupin

Compare the differences of the appearance of the anal fin near the anus between the male and female. This is applicable to swordtails, mollies, guppies and Endler's Livebearers.

Male
Pointed appearance of the anal fin which is actually a gonopodium used to insert sperms on the female's vent.


Female
Triangular appearance of the fin.

fish_4_all

I would not be surprised if the one that is being chased off is a male and not a female. Don't think I am picking on you becase I have made the same mistake with my swords even after they were 6 month old or older. The anal fin wasn't a point and there was no sword forming so I figured cool, new female for breeding. 6 weeks later the anal fin comes to a point and the sword starts to come out. I would watch the bullied one to see if you see any signs that it might actually be a male after all.

If it is a female for certain then I have no clue why the male would chase her off. My male swords have never chased off females, only other males.

Hellhole

There are two females and I can tell the difference.

fish_4_all

No need to get defensive, I have just seen a lot of members who thought they had a female sword, Platy, mollie or guppie and have had it for more than 6 months only to find out in another 4 week or 3 months that it was actually a male. I have actually seen a picture diary of a so called female Platy that was taken over a year and at 14 months it turned out to be a male.

Sexual maturity within a species can be so different it can be hard to distinguish them for a long time. It can also be a matter of the other male dominating the "female" and delaying it's maturity so the anal fin doesn't mature as a natural response.

lioness501

i have been confused with the sex of a Guppy b4 too, and i know the difference!!! it had a triangular anal fin so therefore thought it was female, then a few weeks on it developed its gonopodium! very strange, i think fish for all may b right here.