Rainbow Shark Aggression

chrysalid · Jul 12, 2011

I've had a rainbow shark, Tony, in my 46 gallon community aquarium (I know, not ideal) for almost half a year now. Tony is now 2-3 times the size he was when I purchased him but has never been a troublemaker. Recently though I have been supplementing his diet with some shrimp pellets and now he has become a tyrant, thinking everything belongs to him. My betta, Spencer, tries to keep him in check but this just causes Tony to take his anger at being chastised out on the other fish. Other than re-homing Tony, is there anything I can do to lessen his aggression? Perhaps, re-scaping and adding more plants to decrease site lines and increase hiding spots will help?

Thanks in advance.

fluttermoth · Jul 12, 2011

Re-scaping would certainly help.

I suspect that the new extra good food has brought Tony into near breeding condition and that's why he's suddenly become rather aggressive; it's usually the way with those kinds of fish; it's only as they reach sexual maturity that they start to kick-off (a bit like teenagers, lol)!