Help, Fish Fight!

[-SPB-]

Hi

I've got a tank (second hand) and got some fish with it, all seemed well but tonight i've noticed my red-tailed black shark and a chinese algae eater have started fighting, the red-tailed never comes out but he's out now and brawling. I don't want to lose the shark, he's a nice fish, i'd rather lose the algae eater(s) as i've got three of them. Will the shark last the night as i've noticed him and a different algae eater being aggressive aswell. They are only fighting between themselves and no other fish. What should i do. I don't have another tank yet to put anything in. Any advice would be great.

I've heard that the algae eaters can be aggressive but i've had no trouble before.

thanks

 

[WILDER]

Bad mix red shark and algae eater will have to get rid of one of them.
How many gallons is the tank.
Seperate the shark for now before any damage is done.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Try separating the two. You can use rubbermaid plastic containers with water from your tank and an air bubbler for overnight till you can find another solution.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cyprinid.html

 

[-SPB-]

Bad mix red shark and algae eater will have to get rid of one of them.
How many gallons is the tank.
Seperate the shark for now before any damage is done.

My tank is about 55-60 gallons (120cm l x 40.5cm w x 70.5cm h.

I think i'm going to remove the aglae eaters as the bottom is overstocked i think (2 catfish, 3 clown loaches, 3 algae eaters, 1 red-tailed shark, these all came with the tank when i got it). Problem is, i don't have another tank. Would a large plastic lidded container be enough??

thanks for your help.

 

[WILDER]

That will be fine the container but don't put the lid on or there will be no 02.
If you get rid of the algae eater the red tailed shark might start to pick on one of the others, so fingers crossed that won't happen.

 

[-SPB-]

That will be fine the container but don't put the lid on or there will be no 02.
If you get rid of the algae eater the red tailed shark might start to pick on one of the others, so fingers crossed that won't happen.

Thanks, i'm gonna take them to my lfs tomorrow. Fingers crossed he don't attack the others!!!

 

[WILDER]

Fingers crossed and good luck.

 

[Christine1014]

The Chinese Algae Eaters start out small and pleasant enough, but as they grow they lose interest in eating algae and develop a taste for fish instead. Unfortunately, most pet stores and fish shops don't seem to know (or care) and tell everyone that they're a "must-have" for getting rid of algae. Maybe you can give them back to the LFS? You might not get your money back, but at least you've gotten rid of them...

 

[WILDER]

Sadly past the aggression on to some one else, they shouldn't be selling them really.

 

[Christine1014]

I know, but I'd rather do that and hope that *maybe* somebody has an appropriate tank for him, rather than euthanize him or watch him eat my other fish... I know, it's such a head-in-the-sand mentality, but what to do... ?

 

[Meds081603]

My experience with the algae eaters and the sharks are they like to fight. Most likely removing just one only means that the remaining one will find another fish to pick on.

 

[Rillan]

Yeh meds is right. Just removing one wont solve the problem. CAE and red tailed sharks are both aggresive breeds. The shark clames the tank as his and the CAE will always pick fights with everything. Keeping them both will seriously limit what you can hold in your tank.

 

[treelo]

get shut of the shark i reckon

my past experiences have always been bad with them mixing in a community tank unless you have a lot of very placid fish

 

[-SPB-]

At the moment , i've seperated the CAE's, i've not seen the shark today come out so i'm going to keep a watchfull ee on him over the next couple of weeks and see what happens. Anyhow, thanks for the advice guys, really helped.