poefox

My platys are often exploring the plants and the floor of the aquarium, and sometimes seem to prefer feeding down there. As in they will ignore me putting food on the surface and will wait till it sinks down. They don't seem particularly timid, and in fact sometimes swim up curiously when I raise the lid. Is this normal behavior?

fish_r_friend

thats how mine acted

poefox

Odd...having added another female to my pair it seems to have drawn the other two close together in a more relaxed way with the new female hanging out by herself a lot. Also there was a period where they had begun to pick on the corys in their tank but now they've stopped.

Jason

Livebearers do interesting things and definately love exploring the whole tank

poefox

Something else odd...they aren't exhibiting fin nipping behavior but at times seem to bug each other. I'll look in on them one moment and they're inspecting the gravel together quite peacefully. Next moment they are kind of pecking at each other, all three of them sometimes, then they calm down and go their separate ways.

newbie101

my swords ignore food at the top, they wait till it sinks down

RoboDude

Don't worry, I don't think anything is wrong. Us fishnerds seem to get a little bit too paranoid over our fish.

Jason

Lol dats classic

Their probably gettin ready to breed the males often nip the females and also if the female is bigger may get sick of this and nip back or wack him with her tail. Mine female swordie does this sometimes

poefox

Thanks very much. If I seem paranoid please bear in mind I haven't kept fish since I was a kid and things have changed a lot since then.

0morrokh

Don't worry about them, my Platys are kind of wierd sometimes. When I first got them one used to terrorize the other during mealtime, but she has settled down since. Both come to the surface to feed and will even take food from my hand, but they always return to the bottom to scavenge afterwards. Part of the reason I like them so much is because they have such big personalities!

poefox

I'm very glad I got them. I only have one friend who seriously keeps fish but she is a fan of cichlids. I nearly got them but then realized I'd have to be extremely careful about what I kept them with, and would need at least theoretically a big tank just for a small number of fish. Furthermore, the only fish she has been able to keep with hers is a huge pleco which sits at the bottom most of the time doing nothing. (although looking very impressive) However, she was surprised to find that the platys are interesting clever little fish that are fun to watch, very pretty and that give you a lot of options for tankmates.

mollimizz

I have two platys in a one gallon tank, one male & one female...
The male is an orange, and female is orange w/ black tail and fins...
The male is just sitting on the bottom (he's smaller than female) ?
Also the female has gone "darker", is she ready to breed ?
Gentle Light
Mollimizz