Fish suddenly showing aggression

[mcordelia]

Everyone makes mistakes. The more you get into the hobby and the more involved you become the mistakes just stop being in the "beginner" category lol.

Yeah I think what I would do personally (others may disagree), is block off lights to the tank for the remaining time they're in QT, shorten the QT period a little, and keep a close eye on them. If it doesn't calm down or the other fish is starting to look ragged, I would then probably just bite the bullet and transfer them.

One more thing - I think you mentioned resealing your new 20gal, just make sure the silicone you use is aquarium safe (even if it says 100% silicone, you still have to read the entire packaging). If it says something like "mold and mildew resistant" it is NOT tank safe.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Everyone makes mistakes. The more you get into the hobby and the more involved you become the mistakes just stop being in the "beginner" category lol.

Yeah I think what I would do personally (others may disagree), is block off lights to the tank for the remaining time they're in QT, shorten the QT period a little, and keep a close eye on them. If it doesn't calm down or the other fish is starting to look ragged, I would then probably just bite the bullet and transfer them.

One more thing - I think you mentioned resealing your new 20gal, just make sure the silicone you use is aquarium safe (even if it says 100% silicone, you still have to read the entire packaging). If it says something like "mold and mildew resistant" it is NOT tank safe.

Thanks for that note. Yes, it is an Aqueon brand aquarium silicone. I appreciate you!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

As a follow up on this today's activities confirmed with much certainty that I did NOT miss a calling to be an aquarium sealer, LOL! what a mess!

 

[mcordelia]

Argh I just wrote a while thing and then it disappeared... Technology...


What I said was: hey, you did it! Next to test if it holds water or if you get to do it all over again lol. Silver lining: it can't be worse the next time around!!

You and I are keeping pace for our 20gal tanks, here is mine at the moment:

It doesn't have water in it because I realized I need to go to the hardware store and get a piece of plywood to put under it since my "stand" is not quite as robust as I'd like it to be for the orientation I am putting the tank at.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Well, it's a new tank. But it's a crappy TopFin brand and I read some reviews about leaks. So I figured better safe than sorry. Or at least that's what I thought before I tried the silicone process myself. I figure it can't hurt to have another layer on there. But there is a great deal of excess silicone scraping in my near future. I'm letting it dry a bit to see what needs to be scraped off. Had a few drips here and there and it's a goopy mess in some places.

@mcordelia - is that the background you're planning to use on the tank? It's really nice!

 

[mcordelia]

Does it look familiar? It's the cardboard from the topfin box lol. I assume you got the kit? same here. I'm going to try growing plants with the whopping 9.6watt light that they provide us....

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Does it look familiar? It's the cardboard from the topfin box lol. I assume you got the kit? same here. I'm going to try growing plants with the whopping 9.6watt light that they provide us....

LOL - yes you know it did look familiar. I actually thought about keeping it to use as a background but they had so many things booger-glued to it that I couldn't salvage it. But it is a nice scene. I am going with the black background since my daughter has a glow tank.

Man... I was just thinking my 2 QT fish are doing better and I look over and see the alpha a-hole fish totally going at the other one again. Soooo frustrating!

 

[mcordelia]

This is the background before I taped it to the tank. As you can see, there were two spots where the topfin stuff was taped to the background and it ripped, so I just used colored pencils to approximate what I tore out. You can obviously tell, but I figure I can strategically place some decor to make it less obvious.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

This is the background before I taped it to the tank. As you can see, there were two spots where the topfin stuff was taped to the background and it ripped, so I just used colored pencils to approximate what I tore out. You can obviously tell, but I figure I can strategically place some decor to make it less obvious.

View attachment 123930

good thinking!

 

[mcordelia]

ohh man, that sucks Yeah, I don't really know what the best approach is. If they seem healthy and your other fish from the same store haven't had any diseases, maybe just bite the bullet and toss them into the 10? Probably consult with your daughter so she gets ownership of it too

I know you're trying to get the 20 up asap as well, I think it all ultimately depends on how bad the bullied fish is starting to look... Anything you can add for hiding places? even opaque tupperware containers partially buried in the substrate can make "caves" to start with, though I think tetras are more of a "hide in the plants" rather than a "hide in caves" kind of fish.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

ohh man, that sucks Yeah, I don't really know what the best approach is. If they seem healthy and your other fish from the same store haven't had any diseases, maybe just bite the bullet and toss them into the 10? Probably consult with your daughter so she gets ownership of it too

I know you're trying to get the 20 up asap as well, I think it all ultimately depends on how bad the bullied fish is starting to look... Anything you can add for hiding places? even opaque tupperware containers partially buried in the substrate can make "caves" to start with, though I think tetras are more of a "hide in the plants" rather than a "hide in caves" kind of fish.

I do have 4 artificial plants in there. The bullied one will be hiding minding his own business and the alpha fish still finds him and chases him. I didn't want to add too much more since it's a small tank but maybe I'll see about a container.

I do think they are settling down a tad. They are in my home office so I am watching them as I work. At first there was relentless chasing and now it is intermittent.

I won't be able to get the 20 set up until this weekend - Sunday most likely. I would prefer to wait until I have the bigger tank to put these two new ones in but I guess it will depend on how much the bullying continues, as you suggested.