I've got 3 pearls in a rio180. it's quite heavily planted (including plenty of floating stuff), with lots of bogwood and caves. I *think* the Pearls are 1 male, 2 female - that's certainly what I asked for 
.
My problem is that the male is really very aggressive towards the females. I say females - I am 75% sure they are female, having driven myself boss-eyed looking at pictures on the net, and comparing them to my fish ;lol: . But I could be wrong. They have a tinge of red on the edge of the anal fin - but definitely no red throat. Their fins are obviously less flowing than the male, despite them being reasonably similar in size - although everything is relative, and I am no expert, so it could be that I am looking at less mature males, I guess. Anyway, the male chases and catches the other two, pins them down and bites them
It's not even as if he is only annoyed if they get in his face - at times he will actually seek them out.
I had hoped that it was only going a bit of initial argy-bargy, and that once territories and pecking-order had been sorted out, things would settle down. But they have been in there for over a month now, and things haven't really improved. So far, no-one has any visible marks or injuries - but I can't help feeling that it is only a matter of time before at the very least the stress causes harm even if the actual nipping doesn't.
So, what is my best plan of action?
I could return bullyboy - but if I do, will the two females then squabble amongst themselves? ( they don't at the moment - but is that only because their energies are diverted into avoiding the bully?)
Also, if I am wrong about either one or both of the others being male, I will either have two males squaring up to each other, or a pair - which I understand is *not* A Good Idea. And if they aren't two females, and I get another male, I will likely be starting World War 3 in my tank all over again
If I return the females, I will feel a bit mean keeping a basically social fish on his own. Except that maybe he isn't personally that social after all and I'm worrying about nothing hahaha.
Of course, if I am wrong about the two females being female, that in itself could be the source of the problem. As he is *so* grumpy with the other two, would that be likely to be an indication that he simply is an irascible old so-and-so, regardless of who they are? Meaning that it would be pointless trying him with any other two Pearls? He is pretty much OK with the other tankmates ( all smaller than him) Occasionally he is a bit *ahem* assertive at feeding time, but nothing worriesome.
If anybody has/knows of any good photographs of female Pearls that I might not have seen, I would be very grateful if you would point me in their direction.
You can all wake up now, I've finished
Thank you if you have managed to make it this far
.
. My problem is that the male is really very aggressive towards the females. I say females - I am 75% sure they are female, having driven myself boss-eyed looking at pictures on the net, and comparing them to my fish ;lol: . But I could be wrong. They have a tinge of red on the edge of the anal fin - but definitely no red throat. Their fins are obviously less flowing than the male, despite them being reasonably similar in size - although everything is relative, and I am no expert, so it could be that I am looking at less mature males, I guess. Anyway, the male chases and catches the other two, pins them down and bites them
It's not even as if he is only annoyed if they get in his face - at times he will actually seek them out. I had hoped that it was only going a bit of initial argy-bargy, and that once territories and pecking-order had been sorted out, things would settle down. But they have been in there for over a month now, and things haven't really improved. So far, no-one has any visible marks or injuries - but I can't help feeling that it is only a matter of time before at the very least the stress causes harm even if the actual nipping doesn't.
So, what is my best plan of action?
I could return bullyboy - but if I do, will the two females then squabble amongst themselves? ( they don't at the moment - but is that only because their energies are diverted into avoiding the bully?)
Also, if I am wrong about either one or both of the others being male, I will either have two males squaring up to each other, or a pair - which I understand is *not* A Good Idea. And if they aren't two females, and I get another male, I will likely be starting World War 3 in my tank all over again
If I return the females, I will feel a bit mean keeping a basically social fish on his own. Except that maybe he isn't personally that social after all and I'm worrying about nothing hahaha.
Of course, if I am wrong about the two females being female, that in itself could be the source of the problem. As he is *so* grumpy with the other two, would that be likely to be an indication that he simply is an irascible old so-and-so, regardless of who they are? Meaning that it would be pointless trying him with any other two Pearls? He is pretty much OK with the other tankmates ( all smaller than him) Occasionally he is a bit *ahem* assertive at feeding time, but nothing worriesome.
If anybody has/knows of any good photographs of female Pearls that I might not have seen, I would be very grateful if you would point me in their direction.
You can all wake up now, I've finished
Thank you if you have managed to make it this far
.
