bully platy

[johnny]

there's one male platy who seems to take a dislike to any new fish I introduce to the tank. he chases them all around the tank like he's trying to bite them, and then within a few days they're dead. It's really not very nice. Any help would be welcome.

 

[Losi]

How big is the tank and have you tried getting a bigger fish that would take the dominance away from the Platy?

 

[johnny]

The tank's fairly small - only about 4 gallons. I've not tried a bigger fish in there mainly because of the size of the tank.

 

[fishyjessie]

What other types of fish are in the tank now? do you have any other platies? if not, you may consider getting some, preferably of the oppisite sex of your current platy. the fish you already added might not have been attacted, they might have jsut died from being stressed by the bully. stress is very bad for fish.
worst case senario, the bully platy will have to live alone. i have a isolate tank, and at one point it was the home to one bully swordtail and one bully loach. since they were both bullies, they didnt really fight with eachother.

 

[dixaisy930]

Maybe returning him to the store would be the best thing for everyone...or get him his own tank.

 

[johnny]

thanks for all the help and advice. that nasty little fish of mine is going on a trip back to the shop tomorrow, where i'll be swapping him for another and also getting a replacement for the 'victim'.
has anyone else got such a friendly and helpful 'fish shop' ?