Platy questions

bcart1

Hi,

I currently have a 10 gallon tank with 4 sunburst platies in there. There was 5, but one died a week ago. I have only had them for about a week and a half. I currently have 3 females and 1 male. Also, I saw a baby swimming around (I left it in because I'm not trying to breed them, but if it survives it survives).

A couple days ago I noticed that a couple of the females we beginning to change color on the top of their head from orange to a gray/black. They also appear a lot more bloated then when I first got them. Are they sick or just pregnant?

The male and the other female (which is smaller than the other three) hasn't changed color. But the small female doesn't really hang around with the other fish, she just sits next to the heater (which is at 78 F). Is this normal?

I'm new to tropical fish, but I've had a lot of Goldfish over the years. I had a Goldfish change color once, and he's still alive.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan

bettababy

Hi Bryan,
Can you please post water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH?
Can you also post a picture or 2... of the fish in question and one of the whole tank? It is often that photos help more than anything else, especially when dealing with fish issues via internet.

This could be as simple as stress... or it could be something more. At this point the information is pretty limited and doesn't give us much to work with. Can you please provide more info, such as what acclimation procedures you used when bringing the fish home, what foods you have been offering and how much, how often, how long after setting up the tank did you put the fish in, what type of filtration you are using, etc etc. The more info you can provide the faster we can help you sort things out.

bettababy

Forgot to ask... have you done any water changes yet? If so, how much and how often? Did all of the fish go in at the same time?

bcart1

I has been set up for a while. It had Goldfish in there for a while before hand, with a few live plants. I only have the stuff to test the pH and it is at 7.6. And yes I added them all at the same time. I will try and get a picture as soon as I can find my camera.

bettababy

It would be a good idea to either purchase your own test kits for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate or to find a nearby lfs to test the water for you, but ask them to write down exact numbers, please. Without water params for each of these things it is impossible for anyone (even you) to know what is happening with your water chemistry. The majority of issues in an aquarium will show something in the water parameters, and if ever medications are needed, all of those things would need to be tested to be sure the conditions are safe enough to treat.

How long is "a while"? That could be a week, a month, a year... that doesn't really tell us anything helpful.

I will keep watch for your picture and test results.

Austin

Well, platies don't really change color...

bettababy

Platys can change color from stress, poor water quality, etc. They can also change color as they mature.

bcart1

Well I have figured it out through some online research. No problem there.

I do have another question though. I have an aggressive male who won't leave the females alone. I had one fish die because I think he picked on her too much. Is this possible? Should I take him out? He is the only male I have and I was hoping for some babies. Plus I've never heard of a Platy being this aggressive before.

Any suggestions?

fryup

they can be agressive my male just bullied 1 of my females the when i removed the FEMALE he was calm again :):):)

Austin

Maybe he's trying to make you some babies, not pick on them.