Bullying platy

[dwarfgourami]

My Mickey Mouse platy who at first seemed too goofy to feed himself let alone pay attention to the ladies is now turning into the tank bully. That I could understand, but what intrigues me is that he only ever goes for one of his females. NB I can see no evidence that he is trying to mate with her, he just chases her away. In particular, he seems to have decided that she is not allowed to eat. He is not injuring her, just chasing her away. She looks worried and has taken to looking carefully around for him when she ventures out in the tank. I try to make sure that she gets fed in a corner.

This has been going on for about a month now. I see no evidence that she is ill, and she gets on fine with the other tankmates (2 female guppies, 1 female platy), so don't think the problem lies with her. The male also gets on fine with the other females (his own and the guppies), but then they are placid creatures who probably don't allow themselves to be bullied.

As she is not actually injured I have left them to it. The alternative would be to take either her or the male out and put in the cory tank. She is not totally stressed out (still eating etc) but then she is not looking entirely happy and confident either. What do you reckon?

And what do you think is going on in that distorted little brain of his? Could he mistake her for a rival (I am positive she is a female)? Why only her? And what is wrong with a platy who has been in a tank for over 2 months and not got either of his girls pregnant?

 

[Ddraig Goch]

There are a few possibilities...........

1. What colour are they? I know it sounds daft but sometimes platys can be a little racist!! I had a female blue wagtail which was constantly chasing away the red males!

2. How old is she? She could be a late developing male, her tank mates will know long before you see any change in the anal fin. (Sometimes males can have what appears to be a gravid patch.)

As for a solution to the problem you could put the male into your corrie tank for a couple of weeks so that she gets her confidence back and then hope that his attitude changes when you put him back in, or maybe, if you have enough space in your tank, you could try getting another female to reduce the stress on her, I would try to get a different colour to her though.

Hope some of this will help.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Is she pregnant by any chance? If she is pregnant, which in most cases she will likely be, the male platy is being agressive to her in the attempt to stress her out and make her give brith faster so he can either
a. Eat the fry and/or
b. Mate with her sooner, especially if she was brought pregnant your male will be even more eager to father some of his own fry via her.

If the harrassment looks like its going out of hand and turning violent, which it sounds like it is, if the tank can handle her and has suitable non agressive fish, i suggest you move her to the cory tank or buy a breeding net depending on how pregnant she is.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Thanks for your suggestions.

He is a pink Mickey Mouse and she is black and yellow (sunburst?). (He seems friendly with the red wagtail but not with her).

I do not know her age but think she is fully grown. I've had her just over 2 months and she has not grown in that period. Her anal fin certainly looks female.

She has never shown any signs of pregnancy since I've had her and does not look pregnant now. The other platy looks rounded but has no gravid spot and does not appear to be growing, so I think that may just be her feminine forms. The bullied one looks almost flat for a female platy, though more rounded than the male. It does surprise me that they have been this long in the tank together and neither showing signs of pregnancy.

The cory tank is understocked and could take her, the only problem is that there is a slight difference in ph. Do you think she should go or him? (both are perfectly happy with other tankmates).

 

[Angry_Platy]

Beware. I have had fish die after beign constantly bullied. It started off as them being wary of the bully, then hiding all the time, then not eating at all, then staying in one spot, then dying (stress-related illness no doubt). What I learnt to do was slightly rearrange the tank....gives the fish a chance to re establish their areas of the tank.

The other option is to get another female and hope he takes a liking to her and leaves the other fish alone

 

[dwarfgourami]

You mean a third female? He has got one other female already ; with whom he seems to be on very friendly terms.
What seems to be happening is that he regards Black Beauty as a rival rather than a female- so I did wonder about Ddraig's suggestion that she might be a late developing male- she doesn't look like it but he does almost behave as if she were. Does he know something I don't?
Part of the tank is shielded off from the rest with plants and an ornamental bridge, that is where Beauty spends most of her time, emerging cautiously for meals.
Might it be a better idea to move him for a while to let her get more confidence to be with the others? Or do you think it's definitely her that should go?

 

[Angry_Platy]

Besides rearranging my tank, I have had a lot of success with time out for the offending fish....in my case I put the bully male into a breeder/fry trap overnight. That did the trick pretty much every time

 

[Ddraig Goch]

If you are going to move one of them out of the tank I would definitely move the male, this is because if you leave him in he will only have one female and he may harass her too, platys should ideally be kept two or three females to each male. You need to give the female a chance to relax in her environment; she needs time to get her confidence back without being chased all the time.
The idea of putting him in a breeding trap is also good, it will cool him off for a while and give her the space that she needs, you can't leave him in there for too long though and he may just go back to old ways.
You said that the female is yellow and black; by this I take it she's a tuxedo? Some platys do take offence to certain colours and in my experience these are usually bright red or black, this could be the problem.
Also getting a third female could be a good idea if you have the space.
The only other suggestion is to you ask your local fish shop whether they might swap your male for another, my LFS is very understanding when it comes to aggressive fish and is only too happy to swap them for me, (especially if you wanted to buy another fish at the same time, maybe a female).

Good luck.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I'll move him tonight! She should be alright with the other tankmembers. I could think of getting another female later on and move him back, the tank is rather understocked at the moment.

Yes, she is a tuxedo- I just couldn't think of the name.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Right, he's gone downstairs to the corys. Looking very small and unhappy on his own in that big tank (well, big to him). Hopefully he won't bully them though he has had a peek inside their cave. Upstairs his mates, the wagtail and the two female guppies are going round and round looking for him.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

He should be fine with the corys, if he does continue this behaviour though I think the only option would be to try to swap him for another fish.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Oh dear, you just can't keep everybody happy.
Upstairs in the livebearer tank Black Beauty has been having the time of her life, joining in with the others and exploring the tank. Downstairs poor old Mickey has been sitting in a corner all day apparently looking forlorn. He is still eating though.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

As long as he in still eating I wouldn't worry too much, he is missing his friends but it is hopefully going to stop his bullying behaviour. Keep him in there for now.
The female is obviously enjoying the rest; she will hopefully gain some confidence from this.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Yes, and I want to fatten her up a bit too.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Well, touch wood, this is working out well.

Mickey is now schooling with the cories. They were all crowding in together round a catfish tablet this morning and they don't seem worried by him at all. In fact, I'm seeing more of them than I have in a long time, so he seems to be working like some sort of dither fish. Also, I have found that when he disappears, he is actually going to visit them in their cave - and they don't seem at all stressed out by him, nor he does he try to chase anyone (touch wood). He'll probably end up thinking he is a cory. Well, I never said he was very bright. I expect to se him growing long whiskers in a week or two

Upstairs I can't believe how pleasant things are in my all ladies tank. Beauty is right up with the others begging for food and I'm getting to see more of her dorsal fin than I have in weeks. Those girls are just so relaxed with each other, greedy yes, but also willing to believe that there will be enough for everyone.

I've never believed that stuff about the world being a better place if ruled by women (what? a consortium of Margaret Thatcher and Agrippina the younger and Jiang Qing to keep us all happy?), but I am beginning to think that maybe a world ruled by female guppies might be a more laidback place.

If my daughter would let me I would opt for all female tanks. I wouldn't mind only keeping female dwarf gouramis, too. They are gorgeous fish, it's just that we are conditioned to believe that they are plain and insignificant. Why, noone says that of silver dollars and they are white too.

Thanks for your help everybody.