Bullied Fish

[Miller1]

hi guys,

just after a bit of advice. I recently, rather stupidly bought what i was lead to beleive was a female malawi Elongatus. She seemed in good health maybe a little tatty but i was told this was due to her being with a tank of males in the shop. When i got her home and introduced her into the tank i realised she had egg spots which i think would make her a he. In my tank i already have a dominant male Elongatus who instantly chased the newcomer non stop an roughed it up pretty bad. the fins are a bit of a mess. So i have put him in a birthing box as i dont have a seperate tank and he is healing good.

How long should i keep him in there?
Should i get a few actual females to stop the aggression?
should i take him back to the shop?

Any advice is welcome guys and thanks in advance as this site always comes up with the info required.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Generally speaking, you should have one male for every 4 or 5 females of each species.

Each time you add a new fish, you will need to rearrange the tank before additions so the newcomers stands a chance. Your male probably attacked the female because he saw her an an intrduer to his home.

 

[soybean]

Take it back. You can't keep it in the tank with another male, you can't keep it in a birthing box, I presume you don't have another tank it can go in else you would've done that by now - so what choice do you have?