Dealing With Swordtail Bullies

[dr hfuhruhurr]

I have two male and 11 female swordtails.
One male is relentlessly bullying the other.
I had recently upped the female numbers hoping this might calm the bully down, but this has just provided a bigger harem for the dominant male.

Would the inclusion of a third male give the male bully something to think about or would this just mean Ill have two rather than one lonely swordtail in the tank?

 

[theotheragentm]

1. You are going to have tons of fry.
2. Make sure there are plenty of hiding places for the male that is being bullied.
3. Check to see if there is anything wrong with the male that is being bullied. Sometimes fish can tell when another fish is sick and will take advantage of that to establish its dominance.

 

[helterskelter]

swords have a very well structered socerial life, and the best displayed and best defender will have the best breeding rights.

So having multipull males makes the job harder for the alpha male so adding other males would possibly make the problem worse.
If he's realr bad then just having the one male would be best, adding females will not make the porblem any better.

Helter

 

[LouiseRat]

we had the same problem and ended up seperating the males

 

[dr hfuhruhurr]

Thank you for your time.
The other male isnt sick, but isnt having an especially good time. There are plenty of hiding places, but the dominant male is such a relentless bully that he cannot show his face for five seconds without being chased back under the filter. Maybe a seperation is the key here.

Again, Thanks.

 

[madmom]

Hope separating works. I had the same problem till yesterday. He was lord of the tank and would kill any male in the tank no matter which livebearer species. I had a tank full of females and not all of them were swords. The only fish he ignored were the cories. He passed yesterday of old age so maybe I can get some male platy and put the guppy male in the big tank.