My sword is making my Platy miserable.

[GumboJones]

I have a mickymouse swordtail, and a sunset platy. They have in the past gotten along perfectly fine. Infact I've seen a few fry in the tank several months ago that didn't survive. Recently however, the swordtail has been making the platy crazy. He chases him all over the tank, then gets her in a corner and if she moves he tries to attack her. I was wondering if there could be any reason why their behavior has changed.

The only changes I've made to the tank have been a potted crypt plant, changed the filte redia from activated carbon to chemi-pure, and removed three very younge guppies, all female.

[Damon]

Well first you said you have seen fry. Then you state "he chases him...." Do you know the sex of the fish? If you have 1 male and 1 female, thats the beginning of your problem. Livebearers need to be kept in a 3:1 female to male ratio.

[Christine]

You should have more than one female in there for him to keep him from harassing one girl too much. They are kinda like guppies... ie - thats mostly what the male thinks about LOL Tho IMO, I think your tank is overstocked already.

[GumboJones]

My signiture isn't totally accurate anymore. I only have 4 serpaes, and they are still only about half their full size. I also don't have ghost shrimp anymore. I don't think my tank is overstocked, but it def would be if i added another female platy or sword.

And to the first poster, I mixed up the genders when I said "He chases him" I ment to say, He chases her.

[Christine]

The pleco being gone is good news. I really think a 10g is too small for swordtails except Xiphophorus Nezahualcoyotl. (Of course, thats just my opinion) I was keeping my swords in 20 gallons. When I got my first drop of 4 babies, I divided them up once they got big enough to not be eaten. I put 2 babies in the 20g and I put 2 babies in my 55g. Its been many months now and the babies that were put in the 55 are more than double the size of the babies that went into the 20. I was quite shocked at how much bigger they got in the 55. It made me feel really bad for keeping them in the 20g. I guess since 20s were the bottom recommended range for swordtails, I never really thought much about it. Granted I didn't go out of the way to make sure conditions were identical so it could be some scientific experiment

[BlackArchFish]

Yeah I wouldn't put a sword and platy in a 10 gallon.
I have 2 mollies.
I didn't think it was that bad that they were in a 10 until I put them in a 20...then a 30 and they use ALL the space and have since stopped nipping one another.

*I didn't read that the pleco is gone. If it is a common pleco. Get him/her out. That is another BAD fish to have in a 10 gallon. I have in (1 year) learned A LOT from here.

Infact I got offended by what everyone was saying when I thought/felt my tank wasn't overstocked. Yet, I kept losing fish, soon all of them died, and I QUIT fish. Then I decided to listen/read and start it up. In the past 6 months? I would say. I have gone from a 10 gallon to a 30 gallon.

My 30 gallon isn't perfect because the Pleco will need more room. He STARTED in my 10 gallon, I gave him to a friend who had a 20, he got to big there, so now he has come back to my 30, and will be good when I upgrade again. Plecos get HUGE. I NEVER thought they get to their 18" size. Until I went to a LFS and found TWO 16" plecos. SUCKERS WERE HUGE.

The fact is your tank is overstocked and though at first this may not stress fish, sooner or later it will when they get bigger and need more room. They'll kill of the smaller so they have room to grow.
The other thing is, if this tank is "heavily" planted, AND has driftwood in it, I wouldn't have all those fish/snails in there. Seems/feels/sounds like there is not a whole lot of swimming space for these guys.

Please think about rearranging your tank/fish.

[Christine]

Ahhh, my misunderstanding.... I took

I only have 4 serpaes,

to mean other than the platy/sword thats all the fish thats left in there since the sig already stated 4 serpaes.

[GumboJones]

I know what you are saying about this tank being overstocked, and I certainly agree to some degree. But If i may take a moment to defend my little tank.

First off, the pleco. I'm well aware of how big they get. This pleco is very small. It has been about an inch most of the time I've had it, though is now reaching close to 2 inches. The situation is that soon as i get my apartment in a few weeks, I'll be setting up a 30 gallon tall. The pleco will have plenty of room to stretch his legs there.

As for the plants and driftwood. the driftwood is shaped in such a way that it s "Legs" suspend it about 4 inches above the gravel, yet its still a good 5 inches from the top. This so far has provided several excellent hiding places for fish. As for the plants, all in the front are small and in the back corners are tall, providing several more hiding places. I don't see this as taking up swimming room very much at all...maybe one of these days I'll take a picture of it.

Also for the snails, my fish pretty much eat all the babies so they aren't really an issue.


Anyway. Long story short, I don't disagree with my tank being slightly overstocked, but I'm not going to do anything drastic (such as give away a fish) about it becuase its doing quite well for now, and when things stop going well I'll have a place to setup a much larger tank. That said, I apprecaite the constructive criticisms greatly, and don't take offences to them.

[GumboJones]

So I added another female platy, and instantly the situation was resolved. My sword tail is getting along with both of his female companions, and my origonal female platy is much happier.

[BlackArchFish]

Woot!
Trying to even out the sexes usually works. If it is a 'small' space.
My mollies get to avoid one another in my 30 long LOL.

[GumboJones]

I may have posted a bit prematurly. Since I've added the second platy, things have absolutly improved, but I've noticed the swordtail still attacks (or appears to be attacking) the new platy too. Now, the frequency of the fighting has definitly decreased, but I think the problem may just be that the swordtail needs a larger tank. I added some aquarium salt to make him more comfortable, but I think I'll just have to deal with this situation untill I setup a larger tank when I get an apartment.

[BlackArchFish]

PLEASE be careful with the salt, tetras DON'T like salt (Some kinds may but from my experience...none do). Just a forewarning.
Hope they get a bigger tank before/if they get too stressed.

[GumboJones]

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know that about tetras. Mine seemed uneffected by the salt, but you never know I suppose.

[JamesB]

My wife and I use a little salt in our tetra tank and it doesn't seem to have harmful effects. They are not brackishwater fish though and shouldnt' be treated as such. The recommended level of salt for a freshwater tank is something along the lines of 1/2 teaspoon per US gallon of water, we use 1/2 teaspoon per 3 gallons in tanks with non-livebearers. It does actually improve some of the living conditions in the aquarium and help with some external parasites without increasing the osmotic pressure on the fish to the point of discomfort. As a rule, though, only use salt for fish which we know like some salt such as mollies, platies, etc...

[humdedum]

I have a male swordtail and a female platy in my 20long, sort of planted, tank with 4 danios and a cory cat and a female betta. the female betta and the female platy are best friends and can be seen doing synchronized swimming. I have the gentlest, most docile swordtail I could ask for, and he sometimes joins the swim with the betta and the platy, but doesn't attack the platy. I've had nightmares when I had a nasty male platy and the female platy. The male thought it was his sould uty to keep all the fish away from the filter and with a ten-gallon and a wide bio-wheelfilter, it was really bad. Even with three females, he terrorized them all.