Bully Fish

[Swordtailmolly]

Hi everyone please help!!!!!! We have 3 Columbian red fin tetras but the biggest one is such a bully, he chases all the fish in the tank and sometimes it gets to the stage where the other fish just hide in the plants, its heart breaking to see. I put a mirror against the side of the tank and for a short while it was busy posing and fighting with itself but the novelty wore of, i tried removing the mirror and then a few days later putting it back but this is a clever fish not to be fooled it worked it out. Any suggestions please on how to deal with this? Desperate.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

are they schooling fish? I have some white skirt tetras and they need to be in groups of 6 or more. I have only 2 right now in a quarantine tank and one of them is bullying the other relentlessly. I might have to take them out of quarantine early and put them In my main tank with the other tetras to nip the aggression in the bud.

Also how big is your tank? I have a 10 gallon right now with 4 tetras and seeing some aggression. I am upgrading to a 20 gallon this weekend as I've read that they need to be in 20 gallon minimum.

The only thing I have found that helps in my quarantine tank is turning off all the room lights, keeping the window blinds closed and keeping the lid light turned off. Obviously I don't have live plants. The low light seems to calm them down a bit, but it's just a short term solution until I can get them moved into the larger tank with other tetras - hopefully this weekend.

 

[HoldenOn]

Hi everyone please help!!!!!! We have 3 Columbian red fin tetras but the biggest one is such a bully, he chases all the fish in the tank and sometimes it gets to the stage where the other fish just hide in the plants, its heart breaking to see. I put a mirror against the side of the tank and for a short while it was busy posing and fighting with itself but the novelty wore of, i tried removing the mirror and then a few days later putting it back but this is a clever fish not to be fooled it worked it out. Any suggestions please on how to deal with this? Desperate.

Columbian tetra are aggressive, but if you have 6-10 it will only be amongst themselves, and only for a couple weeks while they set up a hierarchy. They are also pretty big, how large is the footprint of your tank?

 

[Swordtailmolly]

Hi Thank you for your message it's approx 600 x 300 so we unfortunately don't have the space for more. It's making the other fish and us miserable.

 

[Swordtailmolly]

are they schooling fish? I have some white skirt tetras and they need to be in groups of 6 or more. I have only 2 right now in a quarantine tank and one of them is bullying the other relentlessly. I might have to take them out of quarantine early and put them In my main tank with the other tetras to nip the aggression in the bud.

Also how big is your tank? I have a 10 gallon right now with 4 tetras and seeing some aggression. I am upgrading to a 20 gallon this weekend as I've read that they need to be in 20 gallon minimum.

The only thing I have found that helps in my quarantine tank is turning off all the room lights, keeping the window blinds closed and keeping the lid light turned off. Obviously I don't have live plants. The low light seems to calm them down a bit, but it's just a short term solution until I can get them moved into the larger tank with other tetras - hopefully this weekend.

Hi Thank you i hope you have luck, ours is only 14 gallon and at the moment we are not in a position to upgrade. These fish are in a pets at home with a green traffic light believe it or not.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Hi Thank you for your message it's approx 600 x 300 so we unfortunately don't have the space for more. It's making the other fish and us miserable.

I think that is a 15 gallon - correct? If so, you could put more than 3 fish in the tank. At one point I've had 4 or 5 skirt tetras together in a 10g and the aggression was not bad. When I got 2 of them in a quarantine tank it got to be a real problem.

I would try 2 things... first - get 2 more of the red fin tetras in the tank. Next step would be - if the bullying persists from the same fish I would rehome that fish (see if a local pet store or someone near you in the hobby can take it).

I completely understand your stress. When I had the 2 in the QT tank I was sick to my stomach watching one bully the other constantly. Once I put those 2 in my new 20g tank the bully's behavior changed instantly. He actually became the reclusive one. I know he was just stressed from the smaller tank and not being in a school, but he was a real jerk, LOL.

 

[Swordtailmolly]

I think that is a 15 gallon - correct? If so, you could put more than 3 fish in the tank. At one point I've had 4 or 5 tetras together and the aggression was not bad. When I got 2 in a quarantine tank it got to be a real problem.

I would try 2 things... first - get 2 more of the red fin tetras in the tank. If the bullying persists from the same fish I would rehome that fish (see if a local pet store or someone near you in the hobby can take it).

I completely understand your stress. When I had the 2 in the QT tank I was sick to my stomach watching one bully the other constantly.

We have other fish

I think that is a 15 gallon - correct? If so, you could put more than 3 fish in the tank. At one point I've had 4 or 5 tetras together and the aggression was not bad. When I got 2 in a quarantine tank it got to be a real problem.

I would try 2 things... first - get 2 more of the red fin tetras in the tank. If the bullying persists from the same fish I would rehome that fish (see if a local pet store or someone near you in the hobby can take it).

I completely understand your stress. When I had the 2 in the QT tank I was sick to my stomach watching one bully the other constantly.

Hi we have other breeds in the tank so it's at full capacity. I will talk to our local aquarium shop although I've been told they might not take it because of possible infections but you would imagine they would have a QT tank. I know what you mean about feeling sick to the stomach. Thank you for your advice.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

We have other fish

Hi we have other breeds in the tank so it's at full capacity. I will talk to our local aquarium shop although I've been told they might not take it because of possible infections but you would imagine they would have a QT tank. I know what you mean about feeling sick to the stomach. Thank you for your advice.

Okay one other thought (and more experienced fish keepers please chime in).... is there a way you could take the bully out of the tank for a little while, then rearrange things in the tank a bit - maybe during a water change - then put him back in later once the tank is 'different'? I am not sure it will work but it might make him think he's in a new tank and he might take things down a notch.

Just a thought!

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hi Thank you i hope you have luck, ours is only 14 gallon and at the moment we are not in a position to upgrade. These fish are in a pets at home with a green traffic light believe it or not.

Pets at home usually don't have the best advice and they don't really take care of there fish in some shops.

 

[Swordtailmolly]

Okay one other thought (and more experienced fish keepers please chime in).... is there a way you could take the bully out of the tank for a little while, then rearrange things in the tank a bit - maybe during a water change - then put him back in later once the tank is 'different'? I am not sure it will work but it might make him think he's in a new tank and he might take things down a notch.

Just a thought!

Sorry for the late reply. We have tried that and it didn't work, we have also attached mirrors at either end of the tank to confuse him and give him something to entertain himself with but he bullys himself in the mirrors. We are at our wits end with him.

 

[carligraceee]

I am having a similar issue with my mollies. One male is incredibly aggressive towards one of the females. I don't have a huge tank but spoke with some people and they said that they should be fine in a six gallon tank. Usually, one fish per gallon works. But I am taking my aggressive fish back to the pet store and either switching him for a female of choosing a different male and getting another female. I could use some help with that decision as well lol. But I would recommend for you to take the aggressive fish back to the pet store and if you can't, just get two or three more female. Hope this helps and I would love some advice with my decision as well! Have an awesome day!

 

[Swordtailmolly]

Hi
I am not a expert but i don't know how many males you have or how many females, we had the opposite effect, we had 2 males and one died which left one male and two females, the male went very depressed he just stayed at the back of the tank and I thought we were going to loose him (He's called Colin) - however we got another male and 3 more females and they are all so happy together and we even have a pregnant one. These Mollies aren't in the same tank as the tetras we have 2 tanks, we even tried moving the tetra in the other tank but he was just the same. We are going to try and give our tetra back to the pet shop if he will take it and I would either increase your mollies if you have the capacity (no guarantees though it will work) or like you said take him back because if your not happy and your fish aren't happy then it spoils the effect that aquariums are supposed to have on you. We got our aquariums to love them and enjoy watching them but we are now are at our wits end with this Tetra. He even takes over at feeding time
Please let me know how you get on.

 

[Swordtailmolly]

Hi There, I sent you a email regarding the Mollies and I hope you found it helpful. Good news for me, our local Aquatics shop were we purchase the majority of our fish from has agreed to take the tetra back, THE FISH WILL EAT LIKE KINGS

 

[Swordtailmolly]

Columbian tetra are aggressive, but if you have 6-10 it will only be amongst themselves, and only for a couple weeks while they set up a hierarchy. They are also pretty big, how large is the footprint of your tank?

Thank you for you response, the fish is going back to our Aquatics shop. Happy days and happy fish!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Swordtailmolly]

Sorry for the late reply. We have tried that and it didn't work, we have also attached mirrors at either end of the tank to confuse him and give him something to entertain himself with but he bullys himself in the mirrors. We are at our wits end with him.

Happy days - Red Fin Tetra is going back to the Aquatics Shop. Thank you everyone for your advice.