platy aggression?

tanker

I lost another Platy (started with 5, now down to 3). One started hiding and hanging around down the bottom of the tank and died today. It looked like he had a hunk taken out of his tail. I read about fin rot, but there didn't seem to be any sign of inflammation or infection (not that I'd know what they look like) and it was all very quick. He was perfectly all right and then he wasn't. It doesn't seem to me like an infection-type scenario (not that I'd know, never having observed fish infection before...)

I've just fed the fish and noticed that the remaining male is chasing the other 2 platies. He seems to be trying to bite their tails. Is it possible that he'd injured the one who died? If so, how do I deal with this? Take him back to the shop? If he did hurt the other one and caused his death, I don't want the females to go the same way.

Thanks for any help.

fryup

i would recomend taking that 1 Platy back to the store...

also i had 2 males and in the morning as soon as i turned the light on they would have a "stand off" and display to each other and slowly get closer then they would spin around each other biting each others tails until 1 would swim away.....unfortunatly i lost 1 male when my heater blew out and him and 6 of my young female guppys died

Austin

I had balloon mollies who did that.


If that's what they are doing... mine were fine for a while, but I eventually removed the black male just because I was thinking I had ended up with too many fish...

But they only did this because they were fighting over rebecca who just gave birth...


Anyways, I've had lots of fish before with bites out of their tail. They all ended up ok. Keep the water quality good and you shouldn't have a problem with it healing up.

I'd take the one male back to the store if he is that aggressive or if you really wanted to keep him, separate him for a bit somehow. He might not be hurting them. My balloon mollies rub their nose/mouth up against the base of my female's stomach then slowly move up on her and then, you can guess what happens.

Maybe he is just trying to breed with them and the others died from the move or the new tank or something.

It might be easier just to exchange him though. All fish have different personalities and most male platies aren't aggressive in my experience.

Sorry for the essay, goodluck! :)

tanker

If he's actually responsible for hurting the other one and could do it again, I'll do it. I'm just unsure about his role in the other one's death at this stage.

Whoa!That's pretty full-on. Mine aren't as bad as that. The "girls" don't fight back, they swim off really fast.

Yes, there could well be other factors involved.

The water seems ok. The ammonia hasn't really started to go up yet, and I'm doing partial water changes.

Do you mean separate him for good, or take him out and put him back again? I like him, but not if he's a murderer If I took him out and got some replacements before putting him back in, that might change the dynamic???

fryup

if you have a second tank then move the aggressive 1 ....but if hes the 1 biting then you do need to take him back....im sure they will be another 1 at the shop that looks just like him :):):)

tanker

I spoke to the guy at the aquarium shop and he suggested trying more fish. If he still does it after there are more fish, he could be a rogue fish and need to be taken back. So I got a replacement and everything seems nice and calm now. The new one's about his size so maybe he feels better about that. Fingers crossed that it stays peaceful.

fryup

please tell me you didnt get another male....because if this male is as aggressive then you could have made the problem worse...but if there ok with each other then your lucky .......good luck :):):)

tanker

No, it's a female. If "meanie" has been looking for a girlfriend, she might be more suitable because she's more his size and the other two are smaller (and perhaps younger and more immature?)

fryup

yea i guess it will work then :):):)

tanker

Well, I hope so. Thanks.