Keyhole Aggression

[Big_eyes]

Well the introduction of my 2 little bolivian rams seems to have sparked a war between my 2 keyholes

My little (2.5 inch) keyhole is sulking around with his fins and tail split all over the place trying to avoid another chase from the larger one. Dunno what to do, they've always been best buddies up until now.

I noticed yesterday that the little one seemed a bit nervous and always seemed to be all dark and stressed whilst always hiding somewhere. Today he's out and about (probably waiting for tea) but he's definitely paying the price for it.

Is this normal for Keyholes to get this aggressive?

Going to have to get rid of one if this carries on.

 

[kaivalagi]

I am facing aggression issues with fish that used to get along (Firemouth/HRP), could be additional fish that were added or just growing a bit older...hard to know really. Even my red head tapajos who is half the size is now beating on my firemouth...he is one tough little customer who seems to have joined the HRP gang

I am currently using a divider in my tank to give the firemouth some alone time to get better and strengthen up until the new bigger tank arrives and am hoping that the extra tank size will eleviate any tensions but it's all a bit hit and miss really...trying to apply human psychology to fish just doesn't work

(some of the time...)

When were the Bolivians added? Very recently? Sometimes all the fish just need time to adjust to changes....

Maybe removing the bully keyhole for a few hours, changing around the tank a little then putting him back in might do the trick, it might "reset" the aggression levels? Or it might trigger something worse....hard to know really but if things are that bad now it's probably worth a shot.