Bully fish...

[SDRANGER619]

First off a little about my set up...

55gal tank w/ a Penguin 330 biowheel filter.

The tank has been set up for about 8 months now...everything has gone smooth for the most part.

Here are my tank's inhabitants...

2 Platinum Gouramis
1 Zebra Danio
2 Albino Corys
2 Red Eye Tetras
2 Angels
3 Bala Sharks
1 Algea eater
1 unknown guy who appeared in the tank

My problem is as follows...

Seems like the Danio and one of the Gouramis are bullying all the fish in the tank around...chasing them and nipping at the fins.

My tetras are already missing chunks of fins and it's starting to **** me off...Is there anyway to remedy this problem? maybe get more Danios and Gouramis? Any ideas? When i got these fish I was under the impression they were peaceful community fishes.

 

[YoFishboy]

Danios do like to be in groups - maybe 6 or more - they will focus more on each other that way. As for the gourami, hard to say- maybe another gourami - maybe more rock/plant work/hiding places? Adding the extra danios may be enough to change the dynamics. I'm just curious - what do you mean by "1 unknown guy who appeared in the tank"?

 

[loserkid]

according to pretty much everyone on the site, i have way too many gouramis for the sie tank i have. I've never really had any major aggression problems, for about a week the bigger of my platinums was getting a little uppity, so i put in a couple more large plants, and i've never had a problem since then. try getting more plants, or re-arranging the existing plants and decor.

 

[FishKeeper-16]

I would add about 6 more danios and I have 6 Zebra Danios in my 29g tank and they sometimes chase my other fish around but as long as they don;t get there fins nipped, I think they will be fine.

 

[SDRANGER619]

Thanks for everyones response...yeah so more danios it is. I'll try that and get more plantlife...hopefully it will solve my bully woes!

I'm just curious - what do you mean by "1 unknown guy who appeared in the tank"?

Well to answer your question...about a month ago i bought some ghost shrimp from my lfs. I bought several of them and when i get them in the tank i noticed a super small little fish...(i have no idea what it is) well to make a long story short all the ghost shrimp died or were eaten and the little straggler is still alive and getting bigger...

 

[YoFishboy]

Well to answer your question...about a month ago i bought some ghost shrimp from my lfs. I bought several of them and when i get them in the tank i noticed a super small little fish...(i have no idea what it is) well to make a long story short all the ghost shrimp died or were eaten and the little straggler is still alive and getting bigger...

That's always cool when you get a "bonus' fish in the bag! Let us know what it turns out to be...any pictures?

 

[SDRANGER619]

i'll try to snap a picture of it. It's pretty small...maybe half an inch long...and it's a fast one!

 

[Holly9937]

By the way, you might already know this, but the balas are going to get WAY to big for that size tank! Plan on upgrading at all in the future? I would definately get more zebras, and a couple more tetras and albino corys wouldn't hurt either

 

[SDRANGER619]

By the way, you might already know this, but the balas are going to get WAY to big for that size tank! Plan on upgrading at all in the future? I would definately get more zebras, and a couple more tetras and albino corys wouldn't hurt either

Were talking about months here right? they don't just have a growth spurt?

 

[jonathan03]

Gourami must mean bully in another language. They always seem to be the most agreesive in the tank. Yetra are on the border line of being kept with gouramis. They usually aren't very agressive while gouramis usually have medium agression.

Watch to see if one fish is the target of the agression. If so, add more fish of that kind. The gourami won't be able to pick on all the fish at once so I would try adding more smaller fish like tetras or zebra danios. I don't think you should add another gourami because the other one may be agressive towards the tetras and danio as well.

You can also make sure your tank has hiding places. Lots of open water with nowhere to hide. If you have healthy fish sitting at the top of your tank, that usually means that they don't have anywhere to hide from the gourami. So add some plants, rocks, caves, etc. so your smaller fish can hide from the gourami.