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When I first started by 29gal tank I started with female Platy that grew to about 3.25 inches. I bought her close to an year ago. She usually hide inside her cave and only come out to eat.

Today I found her dead, floating on top. I noted that she had a couple of bite marks. I presume she was nibbled on after she died. But then I saw another, smaller Platy with the whole tail missing. It looked like another fish bit it off. I placed her in a large 1 gal fish bowl.

What could have happened? Did she die from a fight? Old age?

I have 14 various Paltys in this 29gal tank. Chmistry of my water is,
Ph: 7.2
NO2=0
NO3=20
GH=8.3
NH3=0

Sorry for your loss.

Are there any other fish in the tank besides the platies?

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

NO

Simply Platys? No algae eaters, frogs,---- NOTHING ELSE? Well, if you do have just Platys, have you noticed any signs of agression? I know that one of my males was going after another male - especially when they were both trying to breed with the same female!!!! Could this be the case?

To thine own self be true...

Sorry for your loss how upsetting for you.

Only Platys. My male to female ratio might be one sides ... out of the 14 Platys, there is only 5 females.

That might be part of the problem.... the male/female ratio... Everything I've read and even experienced proves that when both male and female fish are contained within the same tank - the females should outnumber the males with a minimum of 2 females per 1 male.... The general reason given is to reduce stress on the female... However, I also believe (due to what my fish have done) that having the females outnumber the males also reduces the agression between the males - because they're not all fighting over the same female.... Now granted, you might come across a few rogue males - who continue to fight the other males no matter how many females you have - but in general, the male competition is greatly reduced.... Is the platy with the missing tail male or female? If it's male it is probably the "agression" I've described.... if it's female, the males might have gotten too rough in their competitive attempt to mate... Frankly, the best thing you could do is try to balance the female and male ratio - then see what happens.


[span class="edited"][Edited by dreamweaver8891 2004-07-19 17:49][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by dreamweaver8891 2004-07-19 17:51][/span]

To thine own self be true...

Platy with a missing tail is a male.

I am going to change my male to female ratio as dreamweaver8891 suggested.

What is surprising is that nothing have happened since that incident ... looks like everything is back to normal.

perhaps that would explains why your first female platy is hiding, because of too many males. and died because of stress of chasing! nywyz, observe a lot...