agressive platies

[Steve Adams]

I have 2 male platys in my community tank...one is def dominant. he's bigger, and always got his fins in full flare...there is a smaller one that is trying to be the head honco of the tank...anything I can do to get these to knock off fighting each other or is it just let em go....it's very interesting to watch....I can't wait to get my african cichlid tank up...get a front row seat to the fights.....they can be pretty aggressive if someone steps out of line in that tank.

 

[Annastasia]

Male Platies are usually pretty aggressive with each other. I can think of two options off the top of my head to help with fighting.

1. Get females. Of course, then you have the problem of having fry, and all that good stuff. But it will take their mind off fighting.

2. Get more males. This will spread out the agression some, and I can see this working for your tank.

Also, make sure there are hiding places for one or the other to get away from each other. Also, make sure you are feeding enough.

 

[Steve Adams]

im problaby not feeding enough lately because of me trying to get rid of the algae bloom.

there are 3 juvies in the tank with them 2 male and one female.

and 5 neon tetras.

they seem to be more relaxed this evening.

 

[Annastasia]

Wait, so you have 4 males and 1 female? That's sort of a bad idea...the one female may be very stressed out by all the males' attention on her. This may also be why they are fighting...fighting over the girlie. It's best to have 2-3 females per male. So perhaps you could seperate her out to somewhere else?

Glad to hear they are doing better, though.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

There is always a pecking order and your platys are just trying to establish who the boss is. If they get too aggressive and start to injure each other you will need to split them up.
Hiding places are a good idea.
If they do start to harass the female you will definitely have to get more females or separate her from the males.