Scared Platies

[ravichr]

I'm not sure if my Platies are really scared but this is what happened:

I had a Blue platy (Female) and a Suntail Platy (Male). After a few days introduced 2 Serpae Tetras and a Head&Tail Light Tetra. Its been 2 days since I added the tetras.

My Blue Platy is hanging out at the top near the heater (it did over-eat on one accassion and I haven't fed any of the fishes since then). The Suntail was active yesterday, but today it is simply sitting inside the cave. It did come out once (when I wagged my finger at it) and checked out the area outside, went for a short swim and once again went inside the tank.

I added two teaspoons of Aquarium Salt lastt night.

After checking the water params, I'm planning to add a Platy and another Serpae Tetra (as one is harrasing the other - thought having 3 will keep it calm). Let me know if you think it is a good idea.

The tank is a 14g @ 80F and is moderately planted.

Thanks

 

[TabMorte]

Sarpea Tetras can be very aggresive unless they're kept in a school of 6+. It's possible they're terrorizing them. The Tetras are very fast and the platys are a lot slower and have plenty of fins for nipping.

I would hold off on adding Platys and get about 4 more tetras and see if that helps.

Also pick up a bottle of Melafix. If you notice any nipped fins, dose the tank with about half a capful of that, it will help ward off infection.


And remember fish CAN die of stress. So keep a careful eye on the situation. You may have to choose, platys or tetras.

Generally I suggest sticking with the smaller bodied tetras in smaller tanks. I've totally learned my lesson with my monster black skirts which, while they're not fighting with my Bettas (any more) are still huge and aggressive against eachother now and then. As soon as I get a bigger tank they're going in there and getting some friends and being replaced by cardinals or something.

 

[ravichr]

I think I will return the Serpae and the Head-Tail light and go for neons or cardinals. I want a tank that is peaceful.

I'm stressed out because of the Serpae Tetras as much as my Platies are.

 

[TabMorte]

THat might be an even better plan!
There's a lot of cool little tetras the same size as the neons. Try and get the biggest school you have room for as they really are schooling fish.

 

[brian1973]

my platies did this as well, i had a 10g setup as a quarantine and had some fish that I had been treating for an unknown disease, well i had one mickey mouse platy, and after a week of dosing and another week of observing i bought 2 more mickey mouse platies as test fish basically, well for the first couple days they hung out and were fine, then they went into hiding, i would literally on see them at feeding time, they would dart up and eat as much as they could and then dart back to the hiding place, after a few days one went back to being active in the tank then about a week later the other one did the same. I movd them to a 20g and one of them did this again for a couple days. I'm not sure if it was stress, shyness or what but there were no aggressive fish in the 10g, and they were the only occupants ofs the 20g at the time, then after a few days back to normal, following each other around and occasionally chasing each other thru the plants. almost like they r playing hide and seek..lol
I know it dosnt really help you but maybe it's just shyness from being thru the stress of shipping, etc.

 

[ravichr]

I returned the tetras. The blue platy has now come down from the surface and is hiding in the cave. Hopefully he will be ok after a while. The Suntail is out now and exploring things as usual.

I'm planning to add a Platy this evening. Hopefully they will all be happy.

 

[TabMorte]

You might wanna stick to platties only!

If you want some peaceful but colorful fish too, check out the endlers live bearers, if you get all males they're beautiful tiny fish that would never hurt your platys.

 

[brian1973]

i would allow them some time to get accustomed to the tank, then slowly add different types, mine are now in the 20g with 2 prs of Apisto's, and they all are fine together. I think they are just shy fish that need a bit of time to get used to new tank mates.

Mine have lived happily with numerous other species including Mollies, Blood parrot cichlids, gouramis, plecos, striped rapheal catfish, And now Apisto's.