I have a 10 gallon filtered tank with 4 platies and 2 mollies. all of the fish swim together except for one of the platies. he hides all the time and only comes out from various hiding places when its time to eat. I noticed he has two bites out of his tail (at least i think they are bites) and the other fish seem aggressive when he comes out to eat. what is wrong? they all got along fine when I first put them in a week ago.
Also, my one white mollie has a white dot on his tail...is something wrong? please help! =) thankyou
2007-07-08 16:52:34 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
I agree about the pecking order of the fish. That one is probally the lowest one on the pole. If you want, ask the store if you could trade it back in and get the biggest one to replace it. This will even things out because being biggest the old fish will not pick on him but because he is new to the group he will not want to start to much. There will be a little arguing but I would not worry. They will work it out. Sometimes you just get that one fish that all the fish hate...
If there is only one white dot then it could be a tumor or a parasite (worm). If it was ICK usually there are more than one and they are about the size of a hand written period after a sentence. If it is bigger than a period I would think it was a tumor. That is not uncommon in Mollies. Watch it closely for a while and see. ICK will spread quickly and you will need to get some medicine.
Remember to change 1/4 to 1/3 of the water daily if your tank is new for the first six weeks. 1/2 weelkly after that.
2007-07-08 18:13:51 · answer #1 · answered by wlff772 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The white dot is okay. The platy who has been exiled and nipped will probably die. Nature has a way of weeding out the weaker fish. Mollies and platies are a peaceful fish but they have to have an "alpha" . Sometimes when establishing a pecking order one or more fish will be injured.
2007-07-08 17:07:07 · answer #2 · answered by Mickie K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you know your male to female ratio of the platys? That could be the only female and she's hiding from the males that will eventually breed her to death.
In my experience mollies can be very territorial and aggressive. I was never able to put platys or swords in with my mollies.
Is it only one white spot? Is it cottony? If you notice any more spots, it could be ick. If its just the one it could be fungal. Or it could be an injury from another fish. I would treat with an antibiotic at any rate because your platy has been picked on.
2007-07-08 17:04:35 · answer #3 · answered by galapagos6 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with the above statement. The hiding platy is probably the one female, or the smallest male.
Also, your tank is over-crowded which means the fish do not have suffiecient space to claim.
I would take out at least 3 of your fish and take them back.
2007-07-08 22:55:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you're suppose to have 1 male to 2-3 females, I think the one platy that hides is a female, the reason she is hiding is because she gets chased from the male, if you don't get at least one more female she is most likely going to die
Hope that helps
Feel free to email me
EB
Edit*
I don't think your tank is overcrowded with these fish, since you have a 10 gallon tank and not a 1 gallon tank
2007-07-08 20:49:06 · answer #5 · answered by Kribensis lover 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋