Platyfish is a small and peaceful aquarium fish that loves to live in groups. Although they are not regarded as an aggressive type of fish, due to the way they stay in groups and live peacefully with so many aquatic animals. Sometimes, they could get aggressive with themselves, and with other fish and non-fish aquatic animals too. Based on how they could all of a sudden develop some level of aggression among themselves, so many people often think that they could kill themselves. If you are here to know if Platy fish could kill each other, then read till the end.
Do Platy fish kill each other? Platyfish are peaceful fish, but they could sometimes become aggressive due to some reasons and start some actions which could lead to the death of their kind.
To answer the question, yes, Platy fish do kill each other, but it might not be in the way you might be thinking.
Yes, they do, but not directly, but through their actions.
What I meant to say is that a Platyfish cannot literally eat up its fellow adult. No, not this way, but there are some behaviors that they display sometimes, which could hurt others and could lead to their suffering and death.
Telling you that Platies are considered Peaceful and good for a community tank, you might be confused learning that they could also kill each other too.
Read carefully as I explained everything in detail.
How PlatyFish Could Kill Each Other
As I explained, Platyfish are schooling fish because they love being in groups and they are happy being in a community tank, but sometimes, they could get hard on themselves which could lead to injuries and deaths.
Some of the ways Platies could kill each other are:
Dominance: One of the natural behaviors of Platyfish is that they do contest for a leadership position in their tanks.
They naturally have a hierarchy of leadership and dominance in whatever tank they are, for the fact they live in groups.
This is seen in male Platies, and not females because, the females are not dominating and aggressive as the males.
So the males usually attack, nip at each other’s fin and tail and chase each other, etc.
Although they don’t claim leadership or dominate the tank, they don’t literally kill or eat their fellow Platies in any way, but sometimes, they could get injuries from such acts, such as fin and tail nipping and even eye nipping which could lead to fin rot or some other diseases that might eventually kill the fish.
So, Platyfish do kill each other by fighting for dominance, that’s why it’s not advisable to have more males than females, as females are calm and don’t dominate.
By Fighting over Mate: Another reason that could warrant the action which could lead to Platies killing themselves is by fighting over the females.
Although this might sound strange, male Platies do sometimes fight their fellow males over who will get, and mate a female Platy.
This happens when there are more males than females in a tank, so having a limited number of females to mate, they do tend to fight among themselves on who gets the females.
They do this by chasing and biting each other, which could lead to serious injuries, diseases, and death.
Apart from the males fighting among themselves to get a female, the females could also be victims of this too.
Once the males finished among themselves, they will now turn on the females and start chasing them all around to mate with them.
If you have seen a male Platy Chasing a female Platy around the tank, then know that they are about to mate.
Although this act looks very harmless, sometimes it could be harmful to the female fish.
The constant harassment by the male ones could stress the female so much that it could lead to her death, or being seriously weakened and sick.
Again this is why it is highly recommended to keep less number of male Platies than the female to avert many problems as we have seen in the male ones.
The normal ratio for keeping Platy fish is 3 females and 1 male and so on.
Pregnancy: Apart from the male ones, the females too could sometimes become so aggressive that they will bite, chase and harass anything they could see.
Although it’s rare to see an aggressive female Platy, but It sometimes happens.
When they get pregnant, sometimes they get stressed and depressed a lot that they develop aggression in them, which could lead to so many actions.
At this stage, they could bite, stress, and kill any fish they could, especially the smaller fish in the tank, etc.
So, stress caused by pregnancy could make a female Platy fish to become so aggressive and could end up hurting and even killing other fish around her.
When you notice this, relocate her or use a tank divider or separator to keep her away from others.
Stress: Stress is another factor that could influence a peaceful fish like the Platy to attack its kind and kill them.
Stress could be caused by many things such as pregnancy, sickness, poor water quality, and constant disturbances.
All these factors could change the normal behavior of your fish to become very aggressive, and they might start fighting among themselves, which could lead to some of them getting killed in the process or after.
This is why it’s very compulsory to take good care of them, by keeping the tank clean, and checking the toxin levels such as ammonia, nitrate, chlorine, and alkane, to know if they are high and keep them at zero through water change.
Introducing new Fish: Although Platies are peaceful, they do claim dominance of the tank ( the males)
With this behavior, they will fight any other fish that is introduced into the tank after they have already established a hierarchy.
Many fish keepers make the mistake of adding Platy fish in a tank that already has some of this fish.
Although it’s alright if you later add a male in a female-dominated tank, but, if there are males in that tank, then they will surely fight unless the tank is too big.
So it’s advisable to put all your Platyfish in a tank at once, especially when they are still fry, so that they will master themselves right from day one, and stem unnecessary aggression which could lead to fin and tail nipping, which could cause diseases and deaths.
Tank Size: Tank size could contribute a lot to the overall health of a Platyfish, which could make them fight and hurt themselves.
Naturally, a single Platy fish needs up to a 10-gallon tank to be okay and relaxed, without this, its behavior might not be the same, and it could become aggressive.
So, if your Platies are killing and hurting themselves, then you might have to check your tank and see if you have overstocked them in that tank.
The only remedy to this is to get them a bigger tank where they will all feel very comfortable and relaxed.
So tank size matters a lot to every aquatic animal.
Food Grabbing: Normally, every animal grabs food, but when it comes to fish, it could become a problem.
Platy fish will chase and fight among themselves to eat.
This happens a lot when there is a limited amount of food in their tank, so the available ones are rushed, and this could lead to serious a fight which could cause injuries, and which could result in death.
The only solution is to provide them with enough food so, that every one of them will eat to their satisfaction.
Again if any one of them becomes a bully, I mean constantly harassing the smaller and weaker ones among them, then you will need to relocate the bully to a new home or separate it from the others with a tank divider.
To protect the smaller ones, especially the fry, keep the tank planted and with many hiding places put in place too.
If you don’t keep a close watch on them, then here are the signs you will need to know when fights are going on in the tank
Color Change In The Platy
Loss Of Appetite
Platies always running from other platies and being alert every time.
Struggling to swim
Death.
All these are signs that will tell you that everything is not alright in the tank, so you should take the necessary actions when you notice these signs.
Do Platys Attack Each Other?
Platyfish are known as Peaceful fish because they live in groups, but they do attack themselves if many males are kept together.
Every fish, both the peaceful and the non-peaceful fish do fight each other sometimes due to various reasons, so Platies do fight among themselves sometimes, especially the male ones.
How Many Platy Fish Should Be Kept Together?
Platy is a school fish that loves the company of other fish of its kind, So keeping 5-6 of them, especially females in a tank is okay.
Although they love to stay in groups, the males do fight each other, so keeping them at a ratio of 3 females and one male is awesome so that they won’t have to fight each other or stress the female ones.
Why Do My PlatyFish Chase Each Other?
If you have seen your platyfish chase each other or even fight, here are the reasons,
Platy fish chase each other to establish dominance, compete for food, and also to mate.
This is very common among the male Platy fish.
Platies chasing each other is just a normal thing for them, as they do it naturally and for some reason.
Can 2 Platies Live Together?
Platyfish are school fish that loves to stay in a group of 3-6 fish, so the question is, can 2 comfortably live in a tank?
Yes, the 2 Platies could comfortably live in a tank, but they will be happier and more active being in large number.
So, if you have only 2 of them or you want to keep only 2, then they will be fine.
The only problem is keeping just one in a tank without any of its kind or even other fish.