# Evil platy...



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

So here's the story.  My friend had 2 platies (don't know what type... they look sort of albino) that apparently attacked and killed her black angelfish. I had a fishless aquarium that I've been aimlessly cycling with food for a few months and told her I could take the fish off her hands. Well, she gave them to me a couple of days later, and they'd apparently been sitting in this tiny tupperware the whole time. By the time she delivered them, I couldn't even see the fish through all the waste! Anyway, I introduced them to the aquarium and they were surprisingly healthy and active. They got along nicely, and seemed like "friends," I guess (one's male and the other's female). Well, after about 4 days the male begun to attack and harass the female, and she resorted to hiding in a corner. I decided I'd buy another female, looks something like a red hi-fin mickey mouse, to hopefully improve his temperament. Unfortunately, the only pet store available to me is a cruddy Petco whose salespeople are unable to identify genders. I took my best guess, and I'm pretty positive this fish is a female. However, this introduction did not help matters at all. The male attacks both females, and my new fish has a couple nips in her tail. Furthermore, he hogs ALL the food and chases anyone away. Even if the food's on the opposite end of the tank, if he catches them eating, he attacks. He is FAT. Like he looks pregnant, whereas the albino female looks really long and thin for a platy. I've tried dropping a pea down to the gravel immediately after sprinkling flakes, so he can eat the flakes and the others can nip at the pea, but he notices the pea and actively guards both food sources. My water conditions I assume are good; my strip tests consistently say I have safe levels of everything, but my pH is a little high. I do 20% water change once or occasionally twice a week. I have no idea what to do about this fish. I really don't to kill him. Petco's about a 2-hour trek away, which is difficult for a broke, unemployed college student. Not to mention my car has no heat and it's 20 degrees outside... fatal for a fish. Is there anything I could try to help this issue? Sorry for the looooong message!!!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

trade the male in for a different fish

at least that's what I would do 

sometimes you just can't make a fish stop being a bully, and you either have to house it by itself or with fish with similar attitudes, or just get rid of it all together


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Or you could add some more males and females that will probably tame him down some.


----------



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

So like adding a male wouldn't result in a total deathmatch? How many platys can safely live in 10 gallons?


----------



## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

I'll go out on a limb and suggest you get a fish or two that are bigger than him. Once I had a great tank going with a lot of variety, and then my rainbowfish died (who was the biggest in the tank) and suddenly a few of my previously friendly fish started bullying the others. Don'gt get a rainbow, as in my inexperience I didn't realize you needed a school of them, but something a that keeps them from thinking they are the big fish in the tank may be what you need. Some ideas would be angelfish, betta, gouramis, or some barbs. As always, research new fish to keep in mind where you are headed with the tank. Could the other fish have been a molly? I've heard they can be bullies sometimes, though I haven't experienced it.


----------



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

Well, I guess it's hard to get a bigger fish because my tank is relatively small. And I don't know if that would work considering he apparently killed an angelfish by himself. o_o And actually, the female is slightly longer than him. Maybe he has some sort of complex? haha. Well, he seems to always swim around with his top fin flared. The newer female is keeping her fins clamped, probably because she's picked on the most. She almost is beginning to resemble a male, but I can't tell due to the clamping.  
And I don't think any of them are mollies... then again, the friend who gave them to me didn't know the species and I just assumed platy. They almost resemble swordtails, minus the sword tail. Either way, they don't quite look like your typical platy...

EDIT: I've noticed a darkish outline along the top of the bully's top fin. Not sure if this is just his coloring. Also, his gills appear reddish. Does anybody have any photos of platys with gill flukes? Excuse me, I'm a noob and I can't find a visual example. I'd rather not assume before I act.


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Sounds like some water issues going on there. The tests strips can be deceiving stating in safe zones. You need actual numbers. Ammonia and nitrite needs to read zero. nitrates 20 or less.

Can you take pics of the fish and post them? That would help to identify them.


----------



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

Would they consistently read inaccurately? I test about twice a day. You're right though, they could be wrong, I just unfortunately really don't have the $$ to buy better tests right now.  I feel like such a loser... but anyway would my water be fine if I did 20% changes twice a day maybe? And yeah I'll post a couple pictures but my camera is broken so bear with the quality. lol


----------



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

Aquarium Gallery - Butthead, Ariel, Emerald

Aquarium Gallery - Butthead (Emerald in the corner)


----------



## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

thrashette said:


> Would they consistently read inaccurately? I test about twice a day. You're right though, they could be wrong, I just unfortunately really don't have the $$ to buy better tests right now.  I feel like such a loser... but anyway would my water be fine if I did 20% changes twice a day maybe? And yeah I'll post a couple pictures but my camera is broken so bear with the quality. lol


Don't worry about the tests if you can't afford it. It helps us a great deal in figuring out the conditions, but after 4-8 weeks your tank will be fully cycled. All of us have budgets.

I can't say I recognize the type of platy, but he sure looks like a platy to me.


----------



## Lil Gashog (Dec 1, 2010)

Variatus maybe?


----------



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

Hm, what's the difference? 

Oh, as an update, the new "female" just developed a gonpodium (guess he's Emeril now instead). I awoke this morning to find him sitting at the bottom of the tank motionless. I thought he was dead, but unfortunately I had no time to further act or investigate as I was going to miss the bus (I had to ride to D.C. today). I came home and he was sitting the same way in a different spot, but I tapped the glass and he began moving around like normal. I fed the fish, and for some reason things were better among them. Everybody was able to get their share. Perhaps the fish fare better if I feed them at a later time, rather than around noon? I'll experiment. Anyway, things have been normal for about the last 3 hours, with very little aggressive behavior from the bully. They seem active and friendly like they were when I first got them. I really need to do something about the new ratio though... so I'm wondering how many platys can actually live safely in a 10 gallon? I may wind up returning Butthead if the bullying resumes however.


----------



## Molly Man (Dec 7, 2010)

Since it's that evil, try a fishorcism*#666.

Or hope that it does an impossible jump out of the tank like my red tail sharks did. Darnedest thing I ever did see. William Tell couldn't have done any better.

Other wise trade it or separate it from the others. :fish bowl-3:


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I had two Platies that were the same way...one still is. I had them in a 125gal tank and one of them just kept picking on nearly every fish in the tank, but Mollies. So I moved him to another tank (29gal) where he only had Gouramis to tend with but never really started any crap with them. When he got moved out of the big tank, another Platy took his place as the tank bully and he also ended up in the 29gal. Not sure which one is which as they are remarkably the same species (Blue Wag), but one of them does get picked on a lot by the other. The picked on one does hide and cower a lot but his fins have never been nipped.

Sometimes you just have mean fish. Adding other fish to try and calm the one down is a hit and miss thing.


----------



## thrashette (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice, guys So this problem has magically resolved itself. Perhaps there was an ammonia spike or they he was angry about the snow or something? Who knows... but anyway, the ratio's still off... I picked up a 30-gallon tank from the farmer's market for only $10. There's no accessories or anything, so it's going to take me a bit to set it up. But they will be moving there soon. Hopefully that should be more appropriate, also with some additions.


----------

