Platys - schooling

[CACAdmin]

I raise platys and have never known them to be schooling fish. But tonight I saw the most amazing thing... platys schooling. Ms fishykisses has a bunch of male platys in a community tank.(90g long tank... beautifully aqascaped :yes: ) She posted pics of the fish here (http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1167). I was absolutely amazed to see them schooling. It's really neat to watch them. Maybe because it's a really long tank... lots of places to explore from one end to the other. I told her it's like having a long dog-run for her platys.:laugh: Has anybody else had platys that school.

[Melody]

My Juvies do somewhat, but the adults more 'hang out' than anything. Is there an aggressive fish in the tank? That could cause more schooling behaviour, theoretically.

[fishykisses]

no their's nothing going after them - it's like they're playing - all in a row back and forth, frolicking. you can see in the pic of "the platy boys" them schooling.
I'll attempt to take a video if i can figure out how to do it.

[CACAdmin]

They are still 'young adults' so maybe still like to play like juvies... but it sure is cute to watch.

[Melody]

Maybe they're happier than mine are...lol....its just something I don't see in adults, doesn't make it not so. :smile:

[CACAdmin]

Mine don't do it. It could very well be the tank... very, very long low 90g. (And they just came from 1/2 of a divided standard 20g not too long ago. Maybe it makes them feel more secure to stick together.)

[Melody]

You are probably onto something there - they're probably just used to being close together. Or they're playing - who knows?