Rasboras fighting

[Ashleymorrell]

Hello everyone!
I am about 4 months into the hobby so still learning everyday. I’ve got 9 rasboras in a 20 gallon with 5 cories. I believe I’m overstocked and am upgrading soon to a 29 for more space.
The issue I’m having is that my rasboras are constantly fighting. (My cories seem completely happy always swimming and exploring around the tank.)

I posted in a Facebook group about 2 months ago and everyone said it was just the fish establishing a pecking order but this fighting has been going on for over 2 months now. They constantly fight, hit each other and swim in this bizarre pattern next to each other before they attack. One of the fish has been extremely stressed out and spends most days scaling the corner of the tank. I’m not sure what to do because when I originally searched for answers people said, add more fish to eliminate a bully and that didn’t work.
I’m concerned because of how long this has been going on and how unhappy they all must be. When I say they fight all day, I’m not exaggerating. There isn’t a single moment that they are just happily swimming around. It’s constant and this evening after some serious attacks between them, a few were darting up to the surface rapidly definitely displaying extreme stress.

my water parameters are normal, temperature is at 78-79 and I clean the tank once a week (about a 30% change.) feeding is daily at 3 pm, variety of food including flakes, daphnia, bloodworms, brine shrimp and tubifex worms.they always eat.
Let me know what I can do to resolve this as I really want my fish to be happy and I’m thinking right now they aren’t

 

[mrsjoannh13]

I believe your tank is too small for that many fish and it may be contributing to the aggression. I think just the 9 rasboras alone should be in a 29 gallon (even without the corys added in). Just my two cents, maybe others can chime in with other theories.

 

[Ashleymorrell]

I believe your tank is too small for that many fish and it may be contributing to the aggression. I think just the 9 rasboras alone should be in a 29 gallon (even without the corys added in). Just my two cents, maybe others can chime in with other theories.

Thank you! I was thinking this could all be due to tank size so looking into rehoming options or tank upgrades

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Thank you! I was thinking this could all be due to tank size so looking into rehoming options or tank upgrades

I think that could do the trick. You're doing a great job of looking out for your fish.

 

[Fish4dawin]

May I ask what type of rasboras they are? Are they harlequins? As @mrsjoannh13 said the tank is a tad too small for the amount of fish in there. This is contributing to the stress of the fish and will eventually end in a death if it is not acted on soon.

 

[Ashleymorrell]

May I ask what type of rasboras they are? Are they harlequins? As @mrsjoannh13 said the tank is a tad too small for the amount of fish in there. This is contributing to the stress of the fish and will eventually end in a death if it is not acted on soon.

They are harlequin rasboras. As a quick fix, I moved 5 to my 10 gallon where I had a betta and moved the betta to my 20 gallon. The 4 remaining in the 20 seem a lot better today but the other 5 in new tank are hating life I feel ashamed for the overstocking mistake but took advice from the wrong people I think!

 

[Fish4dawin]

They are harlequin rasboras. As a quick fix, I moved 5 to my 10 gallon where I had a betta and moved the betta to my 20 gallon. The 4 remaining in the 20 seem a lot better today but the other 5 in new tank are hating life I feel ashamed for the overstocking mistake but took advice from the wrong people I think!

That is not necessarily your fault though. There is obviously one fish that seems to dislike all the others. I'm not sure what it is, some other people should be able to help