Guppies nippy at platys

[curtispoppy]

Hi, I have 7 platys in my 20 gallon tank and 4 guppies (all male). One of my guppies is persistently following one of my platys and nipping at it. What should I do?

 

[Essjay]

Is the platy female? Male guppies will try to mate with anything if there are no female guppies available.

 

[curtispoppy]

It was actually a male platy although there are 5 female platys in there!

 

[Colin_T]

gay guppy or guppy trying to dominate platy and drive him out of the territory. If it persists for more than a week, I would remove one of them.

 

[emeraldking]

Yes, it could also be a dominance thing. The male guppy could try to state that he's the alpha male in the tank and not the male platy.

 

[curtispoppy]

I am just wondering whether we should put some female guppies in there. We were advised that 4 male guppies would be fine on there own!

 

[emeraldking]

I am just wondering whether we should put some female guppies in there. We were advised that 4 male guppies would be fine on there own!

An all male group should be fine indeed. In one case a dominance can occur. But in the other case, it can go in full harmony. You just don't know beforehand.