Platy dead

[Gramazing]

I had 6 platies, consisting of 3 different color pairs. I didn't specify sex when I got them and later noticed the boys outnumbered the girls. One pair is a pair of sunburst, which are larger than the others; maybe they are older or maybe they are variatus or hybrids with a bit of swordtail in them? Anyway the male sunburst was always hitting on the female. I bought some hornwart for the female to hide in but she rarely did. When I got up this morning the female was dead. Hassled to death perhaps?

The male sunburst has never hassled any of the other female platies. Do they concern themselves with coloration? I.e. do they tend to recognize only other colors as their own kind? As such, would it make sense for me to buy two more sunburst platies that are female?

I checked my water parameters yesterday when the fish was alive. NH3 was 0.0, NH4 was 0.0, Nitrates 20. ATM I have 5 platies, 3 guppies, 8 zebra danios and a snail.

[Girl Got Mojo]

Yes she was probably pushed to the brink, literally. I don't think platies really care about color, my Male blue chases the Mickeys. But if it seems like this boy in particular is picky then yes it would probably be good to get the sunbursts.

[rich311k]

They do not care about colors, for the males they are not even all that picky about species. Add any females you like. A ratio of 1 m to 3 f will work well.

[Gramazing]

Yes she was probably pushed to the brink, literally. Well I'm not sure it was literal. There would have to be a cliff in my tank for a start :hmm3grin2orange:

If he is fussy about color perhaps he will become a permanent bachelor if I don't get any more sunbursts? Hmmmmm.... I wish they could speak.

[Northernguy]

You absolutely need more females than males.Thats the only way they can catch a break no matter how many hiding spots you have.They need other females to chase or none at all!
You never mentioned your ammonia levels.

[Gramazing]

I typed that wrong: NH3 is ammonia, NH4 is also ammonia, Nitrite is N02. I meant to say Ammonia is zero, Nitrite is zero, pH is zero (kidding).

[DrNic]

I've had that happen. Even with 1:3 M:F ratios, more aggressive males will continue to badger females until the females succumb. They can be totally relentless.

I recently found out that a friend of mine who breeds platties has an interesting strategy. He keeps a number of 10G tanks with 3-5 females in each. The males get kept in their own separate 10G tank. When he wants to breed he'll move the males into the females tank for 2-3 days then put them back in their tank.

He said it works great and solves a few problems. (1) The males can't pester the females. (2) He can now get rather precise timing for platty pregnancy although he wouldn't tell me the numbers he had. And (3) almost ALL the fry survive. He seems to think that males are the ones that eat the fry as he's never seen any of his females eat the fry after giving birth.

He did mention that in his original setup he was using a divided 20G tank but the males would literally jump over the divider or force their way around the edges to get to the females because their instincts were that strong.

[Girl Got Mojo]

Well I'm not sure it was literal. There would have to be a cliff in my tank for a start :hmm3grin2orange:

If he is fussy about color perhaps he will become a permanent bachelor if I don't get any more sunbursts? Hmmmmm.... I wish they could speak.


I meant pushed to the brink of death literally Gra.

I would freak out if i caught my fish talking to eachother at night:hmm3grin2orange: lmao plotting and complaining about the tacky decorations