Sorority Question

[sandig]

Hi all

I took my 3 girls out of quarentine a week ago. They are now in my 10 gal with my 2 mini corys. Things were great for the whole first week. No flaring etc..

Last night Sparkalina took control of the tank and although she picked on the cellophane (Snow White) and other blue girl (Belle), the blue girl took the brunt. No fin nipping but a lot of chasing. Today, the cellophane took control of the tank and she chases Sparkalina but mostly the blue one too. The breeder I adopted 2 of them said 3 max in a 10 gal since I have the corys. Snow White and Sparkalina seem to really enjoy chasing Belle and I feel badly for her. She is not being hurt, just chased away from the front of the tank. The Corys aer the only ones oblivious to the political scene...none of the girls pay any attention to them unless they are eating.

I am not sure if more girls would help...I could bring the corys back to the store and get more girls. I don't want to make it worse and have more girls chasing the Belle. Would more help distribute the chasing? Or will things mellow out in a few days?

Sandi

 

[riogal_11]

My advice would be to take the corys out and get more girls. It will definitely even the aggression out. When you do, don't forget to rearrange everything in the tank and add everyone back in at the same time.

 

[sandig]

I got my new AquaClear filter today so I pulled everything out and got rid of my ugf...what a mess. I rearranged everything in there and did a 20% water change.

Sparkalina tried to commit suicide during the proceedure. It was a mad dash towards the boys tank LOL. Luckily I was there and was able to catch her and put her back in the tank.

I put in a lot more hidey caves (they seem to like them) and made more strategic escape routes so maybe things will get better for Belle. At least she will be able to get away easier.

I still would love other opinions if I should add more girls to see if it would even out the aggression towards the one girl.

Sandi

 

[Mina]

Yeah, I definately wonldn't have anything less than 4 in my group of girls...things can get pretty nasty otherwise.

 

[BettaMomma]

I'd agree - take your cories back and get 2 more girls. You'll of course want to quarantine the new girls for a couple of weeks first.. Unfortunately, you'll have to take everyone back out again, rearrange, and then put everyone back in once quarantining is over... When you're putting them back in, put the 2 newest ones in first, then the least to most aggressive.

You should notice some flaring and stuff - they're just working things out. Everyone should calm down after a couple of days and you should wind up with a very happy tank!

 

[FalconStorm]

Out of curiosity, why must everything be rearranged? Is this a territory issue? Also, what if you don't know which ones are more aggressive than others?

 

[BettaMomma]

Yep - it's a territory issue.

Say, for instance, one of your girls has laid claim to the 3" perimeter around the cabomba plant on the left of the tank under the filter. Anyone that drifts into her territory is chased away. When you remove everything, all territories are sort of wiped away, and they have to re-establish it.

If you aren't sure which ones are the most aggressive, it probably won't matter much. I just like to try to give the passive ones a few minutes to swim around and stake out a good place they'd like to rule, even if that won't be what is theirs.

 

[sandig]

That is interesting....it seems like two of mine (Cellophane, Snow White, and Sparkalina) have staked out the entire front of the tank. It is in the kitchen and I am always in there because I have 2 small kids who live in there LOL...It leaves Belle, the other blue, the back of the tank. They don't seem to care about caves (unless to escape a chase) or plants.

I guess I am also confused because there is so much discrepancy from board to board on how many girls should be in a 10 gal together. I would love to hear sucess stories with more than 3 girls...

Thanks again

Sandi