Something isnt right

[Mcor]

Hi all, there seems to be a general malady in my tank. I cannot see any specific causes, or symptoms, it just seems wrong. Several fish are clamped but that is all I can see. The feel of the tank is tetchy. Everyone seems to be in a bad mood and there is bickering going on. Even the platy fry are fighting amongst themselves. There were 4 of them, displaying their fins as proudly as possible, circling each other, and nipping each other. It's a 66g tank, see profile for stocking list, params are 0,0, nitrate unknown as ran out of test kit but was <5ppm 3 days ago. There is no sign of ich or visible illness. (No new additions for some time now). Any suggestions?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Hi all, there seems to be a general malady in my tank. I cannot see any specific causes, or symptoms, it just seems wrong. Several fish are clamped but that is all I can see. The feel of the tank is tetchy. Everyone seems to be in a bad mood and there is bickering going on. Even the platy fry are fighting amongst themselves. There were 4 of them, displaying their fins as proudly as possible, circling each other, and nipping each other. It's a 66g tank, see profile for stocking list, params are 0,0, nitrate unknown as ran out of test kit but was <5ppm 3 days ago. There is no sign of ich or visible illness. (No new additions for some time now). Any suggestions?

Platys need the male to female ratio to be 1:2. Otherwise they fight. Fry will do that too. Since you have 6 platys, you should have 2 males and 4 females.
Male- long straight anal fin
Female- rounded/crescent anal fin

 

[Mcor]

Platys need the male to female ratio to be 1:2. Otherwise they fight. Fry will do that too. Since you have 6 platys, you should have 2 males and 4 females.
Male- long straight anal fin
Female- rounded/crescent anal fin

Hi thanks for your input. I forgot my stocking list is slightly outdated. There are 9 platys. 5f, 4m. Not ideal but better than what it used to be (4m 2f). Do you think that's all it is? Stress? Thinking about it, it's just the platys who are clamping so you're probably onto something. Never been an issue before. Thanks.

 

[Darkseid76]

If some of the male platies are being over aggressive that can cause problems.

I had to recently remove a male from my tank because he harassed his brother 24/7.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Hi thanks for your input. I forgot my stocking list is slightly outdated. There are 9 platys. 5f, 4m. Not ideal but better than what it used to be (4m 2f). Do you think that's all it is? Stress? Thinking about it, it's just the platys who are clamping so you're probably onto something. Never been an issue before. Thanks.

5f and 4m is a lot better than 4m 2f. If the fighting continues get more females and that should solve the fighting.

 

[FishCr8zy]

If some of the male platies are being over aggressive that can cause problems.

I had to recently remove a male from my tank because he harassed his brother 24/7.

Yeah. Some males are a lot more aggressive than others and will sometimes kill competitors to get 1 or more females.

 

[Mcor]

Hmmm. To be honest, the only aggression ive witnessed has been between the babies. The adult males are clamped, the females are swimming around like big happy mamas. (Due some fry tomorrow or the day after). I don't know. Maybe I'm anthropomorphising. I'm having a crappy day so I'm imagining my fish are too.

 

[Mcor]

Forgot to say thank you all very much. I'll keep an eye on them. I can easily pop out and get another few females. Or, take back a male or two.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Forgot to say thank you all very much. I'll keep an eye on them. I can easily pop out and get another few females. Or, take back a male or two.

No prob. Getting more females or trading back males is up to you. I prefer trading back in so that I can maybe get another fish.