cowmingo

Hey all

We have recently purchased a green swordtail who is pregnant. She keeps chasing the other platies in the tank who we have since removed due to stress. Is it possible that she will continue chasing the other fish (no more platies in there, 45g just for reference)? Any advice would be great. It's really wearing me down as I love all my fish and don't want anything to happen to them.

Dino

What, if any, real or fake plants do you have in the tank?

The more you break up the line of sight ( what a fish can see) the less the fish will chase other fish.

This can be done with plants/wood/rocks.

cowmingo

There is a mix of live and fake plants as well as lava rock and gravel. I'd say it's on the medium to heavily planted side, closer to medium. The swordtail usually hides at the bottom but has been chasing the other livebearers who have taken to hiding towards the bottom of the tank in the plants. She's only chasing platies at this point who we have removed from the tank and placed in another for the time being. I'm wondering if this is just due to her pregnancy or if female swords are normally aggressive.

Dino

I would say it is just the fish.

Over the years, I have had passive fish that were suppossed to be aggressive and aggressive fish that were passive.
Fish have personalities just like humans do.

zerotona

I have a swordtail who appears to be pregnant and who also have become extremely aggressive toward the platies. She is even aggressive to the female platy who doesn't harrass or bother her at all.

Barbrella

I"ve found swordtails to be aggressive in general, especially when they are fully mature.