I Need “expert” Help….

[newfishaddict]

I need to rearrange the fish in my tanks because of aggression and I could use some expert help. Note: all aggression has been “minor” with aggressive fish mainly chasing other fish out of “their” territory, occasionally some damaged fins. I will also consider other options to reduce aggression e.g. hiding spots….

Note: fg = fully grown (mature fish)

I have a 29g with: 5 Denison’s Barbs who are 3” and not fg (Red line Torpedo Barbs), 1 angel fish (altum) that is 4-5” high and not fg, 3 blood fin tetras who are fg, 3 striped cories 1” long and almost fg, one male honey dwarf gourami fg, 3 glow-light platies fg. (I know when all the fish in this tank are fully grown (fg) that the tank will be over stocked, my intention is to move fish between the 55g and 29g to make all my fish happy, if possible.

I have a 55g with: 4 tiger rasboras (Inlecypris auropurpureus or Kultarasbora) almost fg at 3”, 11 rummy nose tetras about 1” not fg, 5 neon rainbows about 1” not fg, and one rainbow shark about 4-5” almost fg.

Problems:

1) my angel in the 29g is aggressive towards the platies and gourami
2) my gourami in the 29g is aggressive towards everyone
3) my angel was in the 55g but the rainbow shark didn’t like him so I moved the angel to the 29g (the shark does get along with all other fish in the 55g tank)
4) I want to avoid moving the tiger rasboras , they are the fastest fish ever and very hard to catch in a heavily planted aquarium.
5) My 3 striped cories were in the 55g but the rainbow shark did get along with them and they are now in the 29g
6) I want to move my Denison’s Barbs to the 55g but some members here feel that the rainbow shark will not get along with the Barbs

My tentative plan is to:
1)take the gourami back to the store
2)move the barbs to the 55g and watch closely what happens between them and the shark
3)have the angel alone in the 29g with perhaps a few corries
4)move the platies and bloodfin tetras to the 55g (I will increase my bloodfins to a group of 6 then)

Anyone have a better plan?

 

[Lynden]

Your plan sounds good. You may not want to hear this, but one of the only better strategies is to upgrade. How bad is the aggression between the rainbow and the angel? Also, the barbs will very likely be able to outrun the shark. Cyprinid sharks are not predatory, so he should give up after a while.

You might want to think about returning the rainbow instead of the gourami. Gouramis, like their close relatives cichlids, are ofen egotistic and will usually mock charge, rather than full charge. Try to upset him or stress him a little, and the pecking order will change. However, dwarf gouramis can be pretty tough; my cousin had one that would continually beat up his resident piranha.

 

[newfishaddict]

Your plan sounds good. You may not want to hear this, but one of the only better strategies is to upgrade. How bad is the aggression between the rainbow and the angel? Also, the barbs will very likely be able to outrun the shark. Cyprinid sharks are not predatory, so he should give up after a while.

You might want to think about returning the rainbow instead of the gourami. Gouramis, like their close relatives cichlids, are ofen egotistic and will usually mock charge, rather than full charge. Try to upset him or stress him a little, and the pecking order will change. However, dwarf gouramis can be pretty tough; my cousin had one that would continually beat up his resident piranha.

The agression between the angel and the rainbow shark was minor, he would chase and give up, as you suggested. Pehaps that is an acceptable level of agression? The shark only chased the angel when the angel came near a pile of drift wood that the shark hides in....

I would love to upgrade but not likely, Ive spent 2500$ on my three tanks in the past 5 months....