Did I Do The Right Thing?

[JessiMommy]

Hi again. Well, I took drastic measures this morning it the battle with my fish. A while back I posted about my original platy Betty chasing around my new platy Roxie. Most of you said since they were both believed to be female there was some hostility and they needed a male. I didn't want babies and the problem subsided so I let it go. I had never seen Betty harassing any other fish either.

Then a week and a half ago one of my cory cats turns up one morning looking beat up. Over the course of the next few days he looked worse. Lfs said Ich and gave me treatment. I was not convinced. No white spots. Well, if it were Ich some of the other fish would have turned up with it too. That was not the case. So maybe it was a fungus? But again no other fish in distress. So... I began really paying attention to my tank. Even getting up a few times at night to spy. Sounds ridiculous I know but I had to figure this out. Sure enough last night & again this morning I caught that nasty platy Betty nipping at my cory cat. The more I look at his injuries they could be several little mouth spots blending together to look like patches. I even saw her go after my other cory who as of now showed no signs of harm. I'm not positive this is what is causing the cory's injuries but it looks pretty incriminating. In the middle of all this remember I found a fry in the tank making me suspect that Betty may not be a she after all. It would explain why he/she was chasing the definite female platy. But why is she/he now harassing the cory's? She/he has been with me from the beginning & right away established that she/he was boss. Took over the largest ornament in both tanks I've had her in as HER/HIS Domain! She's always been a little nasty/dominant. Of course she's the prettiest fish in the tank too. Does he/she know it?

Anyway... I've been so upset over my cory for several days & as soon as I saw that platy go after him again & again this morning I knew I had 2 choices, ring the little fishes neck or get it out of the community tank. So... I did a 20% water change on my main tank, used that "dirty" water to fill my 2 gallon tank. Put a stocking with substrate from the community tank in a corner of the 2 gallon, clipped a chunk of floss from the main tank's filter & added it to the 2 gallon filter, added a little Bio-Spira & plopped Betty in. So, no the tank is not cycled but I think I gave it every opportunity to do so quickly. It was either this or show that fish what a good nip felt like! I ideally would like to get rid of her/him. However I have no friends with tanks and I'm so afraid my LFs would agree to take her back but just let her die when I walked out the door. I don't know why I think this. I am a huge softy with all living things so even as angry as I am at this fish I wouldn't want it to die. I really don't want 2 tanks up & running but I was at my wits end! So.... did I do the right thing?

 

[Moe]

You did the right thing. Some fish just have attitude problems, nothing you can do about it and they usually get worse, not better. I would put Betty in a bag and bring her/him back to LFS. If they are decent they will take her back and just sell her to someone else. That is how my LFS does it. I wouldn't call ahead, just show up fish in hand and lay it out for them. My LFS will give you credit for a fish that didn't work out but I think that is rare. Some will just take the fish off your hands. Sounds like you did enough to seed the new tank if you do decide to keep her. One fish in a tank won't generate too much ammonia. It should be fine. Just keep an eye on ammonia levels and do small water changes. Let us know how it goes.

 

[FishHeads]

Ugh that's horrible. I have a similar problem believe it or not. My Black speckled sailfin mollie has picked small wounds off the head of my Orange Dwarf Gourami...Even the Beta I have in the tank with him is afraid of him!! lol

 

[Inchworm]

Ahhhhh......so that's what happened to your cory! I never realized how aggressive mollies are!

I'm glad you found out what was causing the problem. And I'm glad, too, that it's not some disease. This was much more easily dealt with.

You did the right thing when you set up the little tank for the mollie. By taking water, filter material and gravel from the bigger tank you, in effect, made a clone of that tank. You did everything you had to do. If you can relocate a plant or decoration, since these are also coated with bacteria, it will help also.

 

[guppymonkey]

So now the true story of the cory unfolds! If the platy really is an aggressive male (which could be possible because female platies usually are docile) it should be easy enough to find out. In the livebearers forum they have a link that shows pictures of males and females and the differences. Separating the fish seems to be the best answer (unless you consider euthanasia) most LFS won't take fish back. Some people are lucky enough to live near a store that will, all the stores in my area refuse if its after a certain period of time after purchase.