There's always a tank bully

S

Skidood

AC Members
Mar 6, 2006
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0
Bradford, Ontario, Canada
I recently returned a silver molly, due to his constant chasing the other fish, then the rainbow shark eventually became the bully, causing the others a lot of stress, chasing them around the 55G tank at high speeds...so he went back , now two weeks later, my Zebra gorami is spending most of his time harrassing and shoving the others around.
What the heck can I do other than ignoring it or taking him out?
Most of the fish are male, including the zebra. He chases the Blue gourami the worst (another male) I'm ok with adding one or two new fish.
Thanks in advance.
Andy
 
How big is the tank and who else is in there?
 
55 gallon
6 assorted platies
two gouramis (the zebra and the blue spot)
1 clown loach
one male betta
one mono
2 black mollies
one silver molly
2 bala sharks
one paradisefish
one Kribensis
one odessa barb
2 Chinese algae eaters
2 tetras
 
Well, you are overstocked and that can lead to aggression. The bala's are going to get too big to be in that tank. The CAE's are going to become aggressive when they mature and will begin attacking tankmates. I would replace them ASAP. Get SAE's next time. Seriously....you just have way too many fish. You need to look into each species and see what their needs are. Your tetras prefer to live in groups...your mollies are going to multiply and add more fish to an already overstocked tank. Do you do regular water changes? What are your test numbers? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate? Stress causes aggression in alot of species.
 
jodimartin2003 said:
Seriously....you just have way too many fish. in .
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This is mostly true because many of the fish you have are (or will be) large. If you want high numbers stick with some of the smaller fish and take back the larger ones, or get a second tank. It may not solve all aggression problems, but with more space aggressive fish will be at least a little less aggressive, and timid fish will have more room to hide and swim away. Also depending on the species making sure you have a proper male to female ration might help (This is very true of mollies ad platys for example).

Also what is the shape of the tank?
 
Thanks for the replies.
The readings are fine, and I change 10% of the water weekly, or more frequently if I notice a fishy smell, which is almost never.
I agree that I may have too many fish, but the biggest one is the zebra, at about 3 and a half inches...the balas are only about 3, and I will definitely reduce the numbers when they get bigger.
If I get rid of any, it will be the platies, mollies, and the tetras, and maybe the sharks. I like the bigger, more colorfull fish.
They don't seem stressed at all..in fact, kinda happy.
They are all very active.
 
Also sometimes betas and gouramis will fight, even if they do not look alike. I'm not sure, but I think you could say the same for the paradise fish (others would know better than I). So, maybe keep a couple large center piece fish i fill in with a few of the smaller ones. But you have a lot of option when you pick ad chose ad restructure the tank. Good luck.
 
jennypenny said:
Also sometimes betas and gouramis will fight, even if they do not look alike. I'm not sure, but I think you could say the same for the paradise fish (others would know better than I). So, maybe keep a couple large center piece fish i fill in with a few of the smaller ones. But you have a lot of option when you pick ad chose ad restructure the tank. Good luck.
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I just set up a paradise fish tank, i foolishly trusted the lfs lady when she told me the were slightly nippy but considered community fish :duh: . I had never had them before, should of done the research. Tried adding other fish to the tank and they just got super aggressive with everything. Then came the research, turns out they are not compatible with much. I've added a betta..looks like that will be it with them. O well live and learn.
 
Skidood said:
Thanks for the replies.
The readings are fine, and I change 10% of the water weekly, or more frequently if I notice a fishy smell, which is almost never.
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just my opinion, i think it would be better for u if u can do 25% or more when doing water changes weekly :OT:

i also agree with the other... i think ur overstocked..

the bala sharks will get way large for the 55g...

wouldn't put one in a 55 but that's just my opinion.. maybe im thinking overkill :huh:
 
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