Which platy to get rid of? Strange bond

[Kelly Preussner]

i have a 36 gal bow front established tank with good water conditions. In my tank I have 2 female swords, 1 female Betta, 5 male guppies and 3 platys (2 male & 1 female). I started out with 1 male & thought he was so good looking that I wanted to try breeding. So I went to store planning to get 2 females but they were very young and 1 of the “females” turned out to be a male. So, here is the situation, everyone leaves the female alone, no one chases her. The original big male swims with her or she is by herself. The big male chases the smaller male around & he has to hide all the time. So,,, I took the smaller male out because I felt he was stressed & was going to return him for a female but when he was out of the tank for a few hours the female sat in the back corner of the tank & wouldn’t move. I think she was depressed because I bought them together. I waited another hour & tried to get her to swim around but she wouldn’t move from the corner. So... I put the small male back in the tank & she started swimming around & seemed happy again. In general these three platies are very peaceable together with the exception of the big male still will chase the little male around the tank. Do I just keep them all? I thought about taking the big male out of the tank to see the dynamic but these fish are so hard to catch that I didn’t want to put the additional stress on them. Thoughts?? Thanks!!

 

[FishGuest5123]

Add one more female and keep them all.

 

[Ladykelly]

I agree. Get a couple more females.

 

[Kelly Preussner]

My plan was actually to get a couple more females but the problem is, no one around me has this particular type of Platy! There’s one store near me but they only have 2 to 3 males. I am not sure I can find this fish which is why I wanted to breed them. Please help.

 

[Ladykelly]

It doesn't have to be female platys if I'm correct swords and platys can breed....even with your female swords you male female ratio off. Especially when I'm told and believe that every male live bearer should have 3 females added. .. if your planning on mixing sexes now I know this may be hard if you tank is full and you want to breed but even getting 2 more females should help the stress of your female. A male is persistent in flaunting and pestering females but their attention span short lol. If they are flaunting one female and another goes by usually their focus goes straight to that one giving the 1st a break. Trust me I have 3 male guppies and females and its hilarious watching them show off like the female love if their life then another girls by and bye to the 1st

 

[FishGuest5123]

They don’t have to be the same color and 2 more won’t hurt your stocking.

 

[Kelly Preussner]

Ok, I am going to get a couple more female platys. So this seems strange but my smaller “male” that gets chased by the larger one all the time seems like it has a bulging stomach. I am pretty sure it is a male but could it not be? This is the one I originally bought thinking it was a female. Could it have another issue going on?

 

[Linda N]

Definitely a boy. I have a female with that coloration and she produced 1 baby with the same colors who is also female.