# An Inter-species Love Story



## mercster420 (May 26, 2014)

Thought I'd share this, as a frivolous and humorous story...

My tank is about 2 months old. I cycled the tank using four black skirt tetras and two orange platys. Once the tank was cycled, I adopted off the tetras. One of the platys didn't make it. Now I have 7 African cichlids, an upside-down catfish, and the remaining platy.

Yesterday I noticed the platy following one of my cichlids, a yellow labidochromis. I thought perhaps this was aggressive behavior. I watched intently, ready to remove either of the fish if I saw that one of the fish were going to be harmed. It was apparent that the platy was more aggressive than the yellow lab, which was confusing, but then i noticed something. The platy was not being aggressive, per se. It followed the yellow lab everywhere it went, but did not nip at its fins or otherwise attack it. The yellow lab seems slightly annoyed, but never attacks the platy, only sometimes chasing it off. The platy always returns and swims beside the cichlid, pantomiming its movements, almost as if it were trying to mate with the lab.

I have come to the conclusion that the platy (a Central American guppy-type) and my labidochromis (a central-African cichlid) are in love. They constantly swim together, playfully bumping into one another. Some would say this is aggressive. I call it FATE. Anyone else have weird fish pairs?


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## Swimmy (Jun 4, 2014)

are you sure that the platy is NOT trying to mate with your lab? haha


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## mercster420 (May 26, 2014)

Hah! Well, it's definite that the platy is the umm...how do i say this..."man" of the relationship? He's the aggressor, and the poor yellow lab just kind of puts up with him. I've seen fish mate before, and this is the exact kind of movements you see....swimming side by side, quickly swishing the tail, etc. It's funny to watch.


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## Swimmy (Jun 4, 2014)

Yes, I suppose so - but must be exhausting for your poor lab!!


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