Platyfish is one of the nicest freshwater aquarium fish to keep either in a fish tank or the pond. They are schooling fish that loves living in a group, so keeping them in a group of 4 is great and they enjoy being in a community tank made up of other peaceful fish. They are classified as peaceful fish because they are indeed very peaceful, and are easy to care for, but they sometimes fight among themselves and even chase each other around. If you are wondering why your peaceful platies all of a sudden start chasing each other around and fighting among themselves, then read this article to the end
Why are my platies fighting? Platyfish will fight among themselves when there is limited food and few females in the tank and also when the size of the tank is not enough for them.
The above are the most common reasons why these fish might start fighting among themselves. In this article, we will explain it all in detail.
Seeing your group of platyfish display some level of aggression doesn’t make them aggressive, rather when they do that, then know that there may be something wrong.
The fact is that many times when these fish fight among themselves, something might be probably wrong, so you need to check it.
Some of the reasons why platies fight among themselves are:
Less number of females: One of the reasons why you might have seen your platies fight each other is probably because there are more males than the females in the tank.
Generally, it is recommended to keep more females in a tank than the males to control both aggression and birthrate.
Although this fish could not be classified as an aggressive fish, the males do sometimes fight each other to get the females to mate.
Let’s say that sometimes they feel jealous and attack other males to have the females by themselves.
It is recommended to keep them at the ratio of 3 females to 1 male.
Lack of enough food: Another reason platies might fight is because of food.
Apart from platyfish, every other animal in the world could sometimes fight over food.
So platies fighting over food doesn’t mean they are aggressive, it’s just natural with many living things.
Although they normally do this when they have limited food in the tank to eat, that’s when you will see them grabbing and struggling to get food to eat, thereby fighting and confronting each other.
Tank Size: Just like every other aquatic animal, tank size contributes greatly to the overall behavior of platyfish, be it male or female.
Every living creature has a specific space that will naturally contain it to feel comfortable and relaxed, so platies need a tank space that will be able to contain them for them to feel comfortable and healthy.
So, keeping them in a tank that’s too small for them will only end up contributing to their level of aggression.
Naturally, platyfish need only a 5-10 gallons tank to stay comfortable, depending on the size of the platy, but when they are in a group, then they need a bigger tank to feel comfortable and stay out of each other’s way.
Poor Water Quality: Poor water quality and wrong water parameters are one of the reasons platyfish could become aggressive to each other and other tank mates.
The water for the platy’s tank should be of medium hardness, with acidity, and with a pH of 6.8 – 8.0. Water temperature should also not exceed 77 F (25 degrees Celsius).
Again toxins in the water like ammonia, nitrate, and chlorine should be regularly checked and removed by changing the water at least 30-70% a week, depending on the level of these toxins.
With a suitable water condition, platies shouldn’t be stressed which could lead to aggression.
Being tropical fish, they need a filter, heater, air pump, and water testing kits too.
Sickness: Sometimes sickness could cause a platyfish to develop some level of aggression and might start attacking others.
Not all sicknesses could lead to dullness, some could cause frustrations, which could make them attack other platies.
Why Is My Female Platy Chasing The Male?
Platies are not considered to be aggressive, although it’s normal for the males to chase the females to mate, sometimes, it will be exactly the opposite.
Although this is very rare, sometimes, the females do chase the males around the tank and bully them, why does this happen?.
This could happen if the male is way smaller and weaker than the female.
When the male is far smaller than the female, they could be shy and feel intimidated by the presence of the female, so, therefore, they will choose to hide whenever she comes close to them.
So, if the male is shy and small, the female might bully him.
This could only last for a while and the male will take charge.
Again what might cause this is when the male is introduced later in the tank.
A tank dominated by female platies and later a male, maybe a male that is small in size is introduced, he might feel intimidated and the females might bully him.
So, sometimes, a more bigger and powerful female platyfish could chase a smaller and shy male around.
Female Platy Chasing Female Platy
This might come as a surprise, but female platies sometimes could chase around their fellow female platies.
This could happen due to some changes in behavior that could be caused by the following:
Un-cycled tank.
Small tank size.
Grabbing of foods.
The above are some of the commonest reasons a female platyfish could be chasing other females around.
Another reason is, if the fish is added later or if she is smaller.
Having dominated all the territories in the tank, they might feel threatened by any new fish that will be added to them, so they may try to chase her.
Also if she is smaller than them, they could bully her.
Male Platy Chasing Other Male
Male platies could sometimes chase other male platies due to some of these reasons.
They want to show dominance.
They are fighting for females.
The tank size is too small.
They are fighting over food.
They are stressed or sick.
The other male is smaller and weaker.
These are the reasons why they chase each other.
Although it’s very common to see the male platies go after another male than the female goes after another female because the male is not as cool as the female.
In almost every creature, the female kind is the less aggressive, while the male is the most aggressive, so, it’s just normal and this is why it is recommended to have more female platies than male.
