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platy hiding - could it be related to sex?

3K views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  fryup 
#1 ·
I bought some platies (5, 1 died, now have 4). When I got them, the subject of sex never crossed my mind. I'd assumed it would be like the guppies I used to have, that you'd just get boys unless you asked for a female to breed with. From what I've been reading, that doesn't seem to be the case and I could end up with babies if I've been given female fish.

I've looked at the pictures as to how to tell them apart and it looks like I could have 2 males and 2 females. It's pretty hard to tell. One definitely looks like a female (fan-shaped fin), one definitely looks like a male (pointy fin), one likes to swim really fast with his fins up against his body, but when I got a look, it looked like a pointy fin. The other one is a very pale yellow fish, so it's difficult to see the fins at all because they are transparent, but I think it could be female.

Do they normally just give you any old mix of sexes without warning you? (I could be worrying about nothing if they do routinely give you all the same sex.)

I'm worrying about the little yellow fish. He/she isn't joining in with the others and is spending most of the time down in the bottom corner of the tank where the filter inlet is. She (I'll call her "she") does come out sometimes but goes back there on her own. She's not doing anything else that makes her look sick. It's a new tank, but there's a nil ammonia reading at the moment, it hasn't started to go up yet.

If she is a female, could she be hiding because she's scared of the "men"? The other three fish are all bigger in size than she is, would that make her fearful? When she does come out, none of them seems to be chasing her or giving her a hard time. If I do have males and females, the information says to have more females than males. I'm not that keen on getting lots of females because I'll be overrun with babies with nowhere to put them other than in the fishes' stomachs. Is there a way of approaching this to end up eventually with all one sex by natural attrition? Would having all one or the other be peaceful? If they breed will all of the babies just get eaten?

Are there any innocuous reasons for a fish to hide away, or does it definitely mean that she is sick or stressed?

I'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks.
 
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#2 ·
i think at most pet stores they just give you a mix (or lucky dip)....thats what happened with my fish anyway :):):)....its probably the stress from moving...thats why the yellow one wont come out ....give him/her a few days to settle.....and as long as they are all eating they should be ok :):):):):)
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply. She's not really eating. She's missing out because she's hiding when the others are up at the top gobbling up the food. She can find some that's dropped down so she won't starve and hopefully she'll join in when she's really hungry. I hope you are right and she's just a bit freaked out by being moved.
 
#5 ·
yes i did too...???........when your putting the food in hold the food under the water then coz the food is under the water it will be moved around the tank, top and bottom, so all fish that are in the tank can feed :):):)
 
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#6 ·
Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

I could have requested specific genders but it didn't occur to me that they'd give me both male and female without some kind of warning that I'd end up a "grandparent":-D It just didn't cross my mind at all.
 
#7 ·
it ussually works for me when i want to make sure all my fish eat :):):)
 
#8 ·
She came out more today and joined in with the others at mealtimes. They did kind of shove her out of the way though, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if she is a bit wary of the bigger fish. She seemed to stick up for herself ok, came back for another go at the food, so hopefully she'll be ok. Thanks for the help.
 
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