Are my platies fighting or playing?

[Fierflie]

I Am a new time fish owner and I have two platies and a few barbs in a ten gallon tank. The barbs get along fine, but my platies are always racing around the tank, one usually following the other. I always assumed it to be play.
Today I just noticed the smaller of the two is looking a little transparent and scaleless in some areas. I got the fish a few days ago, so could this be from the trip home, or are my fish really fighting?
I don't see any nipping going on, but then again, I have no clue as to what I'm looking for. I think that they're both the same gender.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Aces11]

You may have a male and a female and he's chasing her.

 

[Pleco11771]

I Am a new time fish owner and I have two platies and a few barbs in a ten gallon tank. The barbs get along fine, but my platies are always racing around the tank, one usually following the other. I always assumed it to be play.
Today I just noticed the smaller of the two is looking a little transparent and scaleless in some areas. I got the fish a few days ago, so could this be from the trip home, or are my fish really fighting?
I don't see any nipping going on, but then again, I have no clue as to what I'm looking for. I think that they're both the same gender.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Probably mating males chase females constantly. I had a male Mollie that literally drilled a hole into the side of one of my females be continously mating. The loss of scales could be the transport but hard to tell

 

[absolutangel04]

Welcome to the forum!
If they are both males, they are probably having territorial issues. Such issues can pop in in cramped environments. Since you just got them a few days ago however, he may just be sick. Sometimes, you will just get unhealthy fish from stores. Moving them is stressful, so it tends to lower their immune systems.
What kind of barbs do you have? Barbs would probably be happier in a bigger tank (20g).
Out of curiosity, did you cycle your tank?

 

[Fierflie]

The lady at the fish store told us to cycle with fish in the tank, is that right? Well I followed her advice but the feeder fish I was using to cycle my tank died about two weeks later, after my sister decided to play with them. These fish I currently have are gifts from my parents (who were unaware about the cycling). And they are rosy barbs I think. Very tiny.

 

[absolutangel04]

The lady at the fish store told us to cycle with fish in the tank, is that right? Well I followed her advice but the feeder fish I was using to cycle my tank died about two weeks later, after my sister decided to play with them. These fish I currently have are gifts from my parents (who were unaware about the cycling). And they are rosy barbs I think. Very tiny.

You can do a cycle with the fish in, thats fine. You need to be very diligent about water changes though so the ammonia doesn't get too high and poison the fish. Do you have a test-kit to check the water parameters like ammonia and nitrates? There is a sticky post in the fw-getting started section about cycling that is very informative.
I will double check, but I think rosy barbs need a bigger tank. They may be tiny now, but petstore typically sell baby fish. They will not stay tiny. They will get bigger. But, I will double check on that species. I think they need more space, but don't quote me on that yet.

 

[Fierflie]

You can do a cycle with the fish in, thats fine. You need to be very diligent about water changes though so the ammonia doesn't get too high and poison the fish. Do you have a test-kit to check the water parameters like ammonia and nitrates? There is a sticky post in the fw-getting started section about cycling that is very informative.
I will double check, but I think rosy barbs need a bigger tank. They may be tiny now, but petstore typically sell baby fish. They will not stay tiny. They will get bigger. But, I will double check on that species. I think they need more space, but don't quote me on that yet.

I've been doing a 10% water change every other day and a 20% water change once a week. Is that over doing it? I can get the water tested for free at the fish store, I'm going there on Thursday, is that too far away?

And thanks about the rosy barbs, I'll look into getting a bigger tank for them. At least I think they're rosies. Once again, I am an inexperienced aquarium keeper. They're a blue-ish green body with a red anal fin. Is that a rosy barb?

Once again thanks.

 

[Aces11]

You can't really over do it when it comes to water changes. Especially when cycling. It is very important to keep parameters (amm, trite, trate) low with a fish-in cycle. Keep up with your schedule and test your water as soon as you can.
The barbs you a describing kinda sound like green tiger barbs. Do you have any pics?

 

[Fierflie]

You can't really over do it when it comes to water changes. Especially when cycling. It is very important to keep parameters (amm, trite, trate) low with a fish-in cycle. Keep up with your schedule and test your water as soon as you can.
The barbs you a describing kinda sound like green tiger barbs. Do you have any pics?

I don't have pics at the moment, all of my USB camera cords somehow disappeared. I'll see what I can do though.

 

[Fierflie]

I just looked up pictures on google, and that's what they are.

 

[D-vanhorn90]

its one of the 2. My red coral platy and my sunburst platy always fight, and my sunburst platy fights my tiger platy. But the tiger and coral never fight. Idk but theyre fins never are torn or bit. Imo its ok, its natural just personal preference wether or not you want to deal with it and dont mind seeing chasing. Others tend to be perfectionists and will go on strict guidelines on fish keeping. I used 2 platys to cycle my tank. Theyre work very well and are hardy fish. Not to mention adorable!

 

[absolutangel04]

I've been doing a 10% water change every other day and a 20% water change once a week. Is that over doing it? I can get the water tested for free at the fish store, I'm going there on Thursday, is that too far away?

And thanks about the rosy barbs, I'll look into getting a bigger tank for them. At least I think they're rosies. Once again, I am an inexperienced aquarium keeper. They're a blue-ish green body with a red anal fin. Is that a rosy barb?

Once again thanks.

You are probably right about them being rosies. Try using the search feaure on this site to see what other people said about them in case I am mistaken. If they are too big for your tank, you can always trade them in at a fish store. Sometimes you can get credit for trading fish in, and other times they will just take them in as adoptions. Its usually a better option since sometimes it takes awhile to get a new tank.
You are doing well with the water changes. Honestly, you will know more once you get the water tested though. It's not too much. Frequent water changes are good. Once you get the params, we will be able to give some better advise about that though.
Its great to have another person in the hobby and its great that you are trying to do right by your fish.