RBA

I have 6 neon tetras and 3 platties. One of the platy was nipping fin of the other two yesterday, almost nipped the whole fin, so i removed that platy and put it in a seperate jar. But while that one platy was out, the other one started nipping the nipped one. I thought maybe because they are only two, thats why its picking on other one. So after half an hour i put that fish back from a jar to aquarium and i think they did not have a problem again. I dont know if its going to act up again or not, but i want to know why they are doing this. And by the way, the temperature of the aquarium is apporximately 82 to 84 deress. All three of them are male, by the way. I am thinking to give these three away and getting more tetras. Any suggestions? If i add mollies, will there be a fin nipping problem?

COBettaCouple

it sounds like they're establishing a pecking order. did you just get them or make any big changes to their tank? how big is the tank? you could keep the tank around 78-80 to be more comfortable for them.

Sabi

If you add more male mollies there could be a problem with them fighting, i think. Thats probably why the platys are nipping. The stronger one could be be bulling the ones less stronger than him. Anyway thats my opinion.
I'd would say ,yes, best get tetras. they are low wasters and great chaps! Some of them like the black tetra;cardinal;rummy nose' etc are very beautiful. Though mollies are pretty too.

RBA

FL NO, i did not make any changes to the aquarium. Its 10 gallon tank. Whats pecking order? If i switch platies with mollies, will there be a nipping problem?

Richard

For a ten gal. tank, six Neons and three Platties is close to the limit in terms of optimum tank space for it's inhabitants, but you can maintain that number of fish types in that size of tank if you (A) Do water changes at least once weekly (B) Change your Platty ratio to one male and two females (C) have a couple of plants (soft if artificial) for the female Platties to hide in if necessary when they're pregnant.. another thing I'd like to tell you is Neons are a lot more fragile than Platties, so if for any reason you get say an Ich infection in that tank, you may want to seperate the two species for treatment.

COBettaCouple

the pecking order is like the chain of command or the fish determining who's the alpha, who's at the bottom, etc.. with 6 neons (9") and 3 platys (6") you've got 15" (adult size) of fish in a 10g tank so you're at 150% on the bioload. some of the nipping could be due to the fish feeling crowded, which tends to make them a little grumpier. more plants would be good and keep an eye on the water chemistry since there's more chance of a spike and like richard said, the neons are not nearly as hardy as the platys - a big spike could wipe them out fast. i'd do 25% water changing 2x a week.

i wouldn't change to mollies since they're bigger than platys and would only make the tank more overstocked.

RBA

i got rid of platties, i gave them to LFS and i baught Harliquen Rasbora, 6 of them. So far there is no problem. Any Suggestions.

COBettaCouple

Do you still have the neons? If so, the tank is more overstocked now.. close to 200%, so you'll really want to monitor the water chemistry and do 2 or 3 partial water changes per week along with cleaning the substrata.