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	Aggressive Platies?
coyote1066 Fingerling Posts: 35 Kudos: 17 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Jun-2005	My Platies have recently started to display aggressive postures and chasing each other. Is this really just some form of mating ritual? When one gets "mad" it twists its body to either the right or left and begins to swim vertically for a few seconds then BLAM it shoots off after another one. The main aggressor is a large adult (vs everyone) but I've also seen some of the younger ones chase each other too. No nicked fins that I can tell.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
LMuha Mega Fish Posts: 908 Kudos: 1144 Votes: 183 Registered: 17-Mar-2003	Is the aggressive one a male? (In which case it might be mating.) On the other hand, I had a very aggressive platy a few years ago -- he'd ram the other fish like the shark rammed the boat in Jaws. It was definitely not a mating ritual in that case, because the fish he was attacking weren't even platies. How big is the tank? Do the other fish have room to get away?
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
Hooktor Fish Addict Posts: 646 Kudos: 651 Votes: 67 Registered: 22-Mar-2004	Sometimes platies can just be a little mean, but i am guessing it has to do with mating and your male to female ratio. Can you tell us about who is chasing who and what the male to female ratio is? If you don't know how to tell the males and females apart here is a link
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
coyote1066 Fingerling Posts: 35 Kudos: 17 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Jun-2005	Well, by some freaky luck of the draw it appears I have five females and no males. All have large anal fins not held against their bodies...right? I have a well planted (plastic) 20 gal, so the younger ones do have places to run to. I guess I need to get a couple males to ease the tension between these females. A 2:1 ratio is good, right? I watched the posture again and it definitely looks like she (the big one) is presenting herself. Without a male she's probably getting frustrated. Last edited by coyote1066 at 16-Jun-2005 11:59
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
katieb Fish Addict Posts: 697 Votes: 69 Registered: 03-Jul-2004	The ratio is one male to every 2 females I'll do graffiti, If you sing to me in French.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
T/A Mega Fish Posts: 942 Kudos: 1796 Registered: 20-Feb-2004	I originally only had 2 female Platies and the one was fairly aggressive towards the other female. I also decided that getting a male would be the best option. And it worked out great(except for the 3 baby platies that survived). The aggressive female is now very peaceful to everything in the tank.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
ronnfive Enthusiast Posts: 188 Kudos: 219 Votes: 0 Registered: 28-Jul-2004	How old are the younger ones? Before buying two males, I want you to observe closely about the twist of their body and see if they go down to the belly of the other fish… maybe you got a late developed male. Just want you to make sure, or you might ended with most males. The ratio I could give you is at least 1m/3f, the more females the better. I got almost 400 platy fry floating everywhere with their parents in my small pond. See how i did it... and good luck for raising the fry! http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Livebearers%20Lane/60017.html
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46
coyote1066 Fingerling Posts: 35 Kudos: 17 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Jun-2005	The younger ones are about an 1 1/2" long and seem to be females. When the older one "presents" some of the others do seem to "sniff" around her but there is no engagement that I can tell. I was at PetCO today getting some food and checked out the Platies and could definitely make out the males. I would have gotten a couple but I'm still finishing my ich treatments and didn't want to introduce more issues.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:46


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