Aggressive Swordtail?

[jaywings19]

It appears that I have a rather "bullyish" male swordtail in my Eclipse tank (see signature below).

He picks mostly on the Platy because they "occupy the same space." Coming up from behind him and pushing/chasing without any cause.

At feeding time, he will usually eat flakes from the surface, then try to muscle his way into the sinking pellet(s) that my corys are enjoying. My platy also likes to eat the sinking pellets, but will only do so "courteously" and mostly when the corys are done feeding. However, the swordtail just pushes everyone aside and takes over.

I thought swordtails were supposed to be peaceful community fish. Did I just get a bad seed? Or has anyone else owned a livebearer with this behavior?

 

[lizard]

I thought swordtails were supposed to be peaceful community fish. Did I just get a bad seed? Or has anyone else owned a livebearer with this behavior?

I have a male Platy that harasses one particular female Platy. My other male would do the same thing with the same female. They chase her and chase her. It doesn't appear to be a "wanting to mate" type chase. It's more of an aggression thing. They harass this female the way two Platy males will harass each other when they're both in my 10 gallon. I have no idea why. Rearranging the tank doesn't help. The female spends much of her time "in the background", hiding out in the plants, the corners, etc. She doesn't look pregnant and hasn't since I've gotten here (a month ago). I've wondered if she could be a hermaphordite or something of the sort... I dunno...

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[jaywings19]

She doesn't look pregnant and hasn't since I've gotten here (a month ago). I've wondered if she could be a hermaphordite or something of the sort... I dunno...

Funny you mention that. My mom says that my male swordtail is homosexual because it looks like he's trying to have sex with my male platy... because he always comes up from behind him and pecks.

I'm not sure why the swordtail does this... I guess he just has a dominance complex.

I suppose it's all good unless I see any type of injury on his tankmates.

 

[guppymonkey]

Swordtails and platies are basically the same species so your fish probably has a male aggression problem. The swordtail is constantly asserting its dominance over the male platy even though there are no females to compete over. My two male swordtails do the same thing. They haven't hurt each other yet so I haven't done anything about it.

At feeding time, he will usually eat flakes from the surface, then try to muscle his way into the sinking pellet(s) that my corys are enjoying. My platy also likes to eat the sinking pellets, but will only do so "courteously" and mostly when the corys are done feeding. However, the swordtail just pushes everyone aside and takes over

My guppies and swordtails do the same thing! I think they do it because the sinking pellets are usually algae and they like veggies. My corys always get enough though even with the other fish shoving them out of the way.

 

[aquarius]

i know what you mean, my swordail can be agressive to my platy too. when i first introduced the platy, the swordtail kept picking at and nipping her. he seemed to have come down a bit but i still see him occasionally try nip her. and actually the platies and the peaceful fish, swordtails are spirited and more agressive. i got the platy, hoping she and sword would breed but he doesn't have any interest in her. oh well, as long as he's not harassing the poor thing