platies getting worse...what do i do ?

hi,
As in my previous post been having trouble with platies,bullying each other....They are being awful to each other.So far tonight they haven,t stopped...ramming...biting (I think)

What an earth is going on..is it possible they where sick when I got them & they are grumpy ?
Tested my water & ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
I don't know what to do....I feel awful,will take them back tomorrow...if lfs will let me.I give up on platies now.

Tracy

 

Hey Tracy,
Sometimes they can make you feel like that, but if there are no wounds from their fighting I really think they're establishing the pecking order. If 1 was getting picked on by the other 2, I'd think it was sick but it sounds like they're all equally being little buggers. Even if you take these back, I wouldn't give up on platys.. honestly, this is the first time I've heard of this much trouble getting a batch settled in. You could try the blue platys or all-females or swordtails, etc.

Just a few questions for you:
What do you treat your tap water with to make it fish-safe? (Prime, Amquel+, NovAqua+, etc)
What and when do you feed them?
What is in the tank as far as plants & decorations with hiding spots go?
Do you have an airpump & airstone?

 

I had a similar problem when I had 2 males and 3 females. Actually one male was bigger than the other and the small one spent all his time hiding from the bigger one. I thought this was horrible I bought another female, but this did not help. I have come to the conclusion that it is better in a small tank to have only one male and the rest females, but I actually want the babies. In your case I would go with all females, although you may end up buying one that is pregnant, almost impossible to tell. But most LFS's will take the babies and even pay you for them if they are good specimens (breed from same type of platy) I have never seen anyone try to put all males together, bought I have seen people have good luck with all females. I love my platies and I like watching the babies grow up. They are very interactive with their owner since it seems they never think they have enough to eat. I gave my orgiinal 6 platies 2 a friend so I could get some that were all the same type.

 

hi,
I took the platies back,I did ask before on forums & at lfs if it was ok to have all males and was told yes,it would be fine.

I always treat tap water with kings british safe guard,never used untreated water.
I feed a mixture of flake,granuals, & live food.
I have a mixture of live & fake plants...also urns (aquatic) to hide in...lots of swimming space & hiding places too.
I do have an airstone curtain....I checked & double checked what I needed before I added fish...just annoying that this happened.
My lfs did take them back,but while I was talking, another person just tipped them straight into their tank....no doing gradually as I had done...will not go back there again.

 

hi,
I took the platies back,I did ask before on forums & at lfs if it was ok to have all males and was told yes,it would be fine.

I always treat tap water with kings british safe guard,never used untreated water.
I feed a mixture of flake,granuals, & live food.
I have a mixture of live & fake plants...also urns (aquatic) to hide in...lots of swimming space & hiding places too.
I do have an airstone curtain....I checked & double checked what I needed before I added fish...just annoying that this happened.
My lfs did take them back,but while I was talking, another person just tipped them straight into their tank....no doing gradually as I had done...will not go back there again.

Yea, that's not good - makes me wonder if the way they treat their fish might have helped make those males so grumpy.. Everything sounds good & you were prepared for them well. Just an unlucky batch of them I think. You've got a great setup for a school of Platys and hopefully can find some good ones that will let you really enjoy the fun interaction Platys can have with each other. A different store sounds like a good idea - probably a low chance of getting a happy bunch of fish there.