FEMALE platy trying to mate with FEMALE guppy?

[EddyC]

I'm beginning to think my female mickey mouse platy has lost her mind. Recently she's been trying to mate with the dominant female guppy in the tank, much to the guppy's distress. The guppy likes to hover in the water above some of the driftwood, keeping an eye on her "kingdom". Minnie, the platy, sidles up next to her and suddenly turns on her side and tries to mate with the guppy. This has happened numerous times, and now the guppy is terrified of poor Minnie.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? I'm 100% certain that Minnie is a female - I know how to sex platies and have actually watched her give birth - so it's not possible that I've misidentified her gender.

Normally I'd just laugh this off, but the poor guppy is getting pretty stressed whenever Minnie's around - and she's always lurking. Any ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Northernguy]

What else is in the tank?
How is it decorated? Is there lots of hiding places?

[VoidParadigm]

Make sure there are plenty of hiding spots. If worst comes to worst you may have to seperate them.

Of course, though, look at the bright side. You've got very modern fish. Not afraid to show who they are? :lol: =P

[EddyC]

The tank is a 36-gallon, heavily planted tank. There are also two coconut caves, a rock cave, and driftwood, so there are tons of hiding spaces.

As for fish, there are 3 platies (2 females and a male), 3 guppies (all female), 4 cherry barbs, 3 ottos and a male dwarf gourami. The guppies are only temporary residents - my sister's tank cracked when a friend threw a ball and I took the guppies until her new tank can finish cycling. Everybody's really peaceful (except when the male platy goes near the gourami's bubble nest; since I removed the females he's been a little testy). In fact, the only "aggression" I see (other than the gourami chasing the male platy) is when the harrassed guppy chases Minnie away.

Since the guppies are only temporary and no real harm's being done I'm not too worried. But the poor guppy has been hiding in the more secluded of the two coconuts all day - and Minnie's been searching for her!

[EddyC]

One of my friends describes her as "a modern female fish that isn't afraid to go against gender stereotypes and live the life she wants to live."
Sounds like the description of a TV show.

As long as she's happy, I guess. The poor other female platy now has no one to distract the male - and he wants nothing to do with Minnie.

Now if only the guppy would come out of the cave - that's the ottos territory and they aren't happy about being kicked out of their house.

[Little Embers]

Is it possible the guppy could be pregnant? I realise you mentioned they were all females, but if they are relatively new from the LFS, she may possibly be holding fry and releasing hormones that other fish pick up on, perhaps Minnie may be trying to nudge her vent area in anticipation of getting some free food. Could also be why the guppy was hovering and now hiding. It can also take fish a couple of weeks to fully settle into new surroundings and having new tankmates.... Just a few thoughts anyway.

[EddyC]

While it may be possible that the guppy is pregnant, I don't think she is. My sister got her from the LFS back in January, and while we do have male guppies they have never come in contact with the ladies. I know that the females can store the sperm for a while (people say 4 months/180 days) but seven months seems like a longshot.

The gourami finally kicked the guppy out of the ottos' cave and she's been behaving like she normally does. And Minnie seems to be leaving her alone. Finally.