Why Do All My Fish Fight?

[Jimbo1984]

Hey. Right, I need to get to the bottom of this! I have had a Juwel Rio 125 set up almost a year and there's been fighting issues with pretty much all the species of fish i've had in there, when there's been more than 1 of the species. I'll elaborate:

Emperor Tetras - 5 males continually fought for dominance and knock around most other fish. 3 have died due to this. Lots more females so not a ratio issue. Remaining 2 in separate tanks due to fighting and stressing out other fish.

Bristlenose Catfish - Larger of 2 males bullied the smaller. Swapped larger male for female. Smaller male then bullied female. Female moved to separate tank.

Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids - Bought 1 male and 1 female. Read they do well in a harem so bought another female. This female was bullied by the male so took her back. Male unfortunately died (I believe due to stress from being beaten up by a male emperor). Recently bought a replacement male but he was knocking around the female and is now in another tank.

Dwarf Gouramis - Bought a pair. Male continually chased and knocked around female. Female got ill and died.

Siamese Flying Foxes - Bought a pair. Smaller continually chased and damaged by larger. Larger taken back.

Keyhole Cichlids - Bought a pair. Smaller continally chased and....you get the idea. Smaller taken back.

What the hell is going on? Are all fish like this?

 

[PRW1988]

The ratios of male to female are way off... It should be 3 females per male. Try changing up the stocking levels a bit and the sexes and you should be alright.

 

[Jimbo1984]

With what species?

 

[Davo86]

whats the setup like in the tank? are there lots of hiding places, objects etc. to keep them occupied and to prevent them from always seeing each other.

i'm guessing the above person was referring to the gouramis, or possibly even the cockatoos.

The fighting does seem odd, I have 3 bristlenose, 2 keyholes and 2 flying foxes together and i see no aggression from any of them

 

[PRW1988]

The keyholes, dwarf cockatoos and (I've been told) that it's generally a good idea to have only 1 dwarf gourami per tank. Also, pleco tend to be territorial so I'd say only have 1 unless the tank is large enough.

you said the tank is 125L I believe, that means it's about 33gallons, so only 1 BN pleco (1 pleco in general) should be in that tank.

 

[Jimbo1984]

Yeah i've got bogwood, bridges, plant pot, hollow tree trunk, small ship wreck amongst other things and plants.

 

[Jimbo1984]

The keyholes, dwarf cockatoos and (I've been told) that it's generally a good idea to have only 1 dwarf gourami per tank. Also, pleco tend to be territorial so I'd say only have 1 unless the tank is large enough.

you said the tank is 125L I believe, that means it's about 33gallons, so only 1 BN pleco (1 pleco in general) should be in that tank.

What? 1 keyhole, cdc and gourami?

As for the bristlenose, I don't plan to add any more.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Terriann]

The keyholes, dwarf cockatoos and (I've been told) that it's generally a good idea to have only 1 dwarf gourami per tank. Also, pleco tend to be territorial so I'd say only have 1 unless the tank is large enough.

you said the tank is 125L I believe, that means it's about 33gallons, so only 1 BN pleco (1 pleco in general) should be in that tank.

i have six chocolate gouramies in my tank and there is no agression?! Do you mean one type of dwarf gourami?

 

[PRW1988]

well, not so much 1 keyhole and dwarf cockatoo, I was meaning increase the numbers of those 2 (they are very nice looking). try getting 1 or 2 more females of each species (keyhole and cockatoo), but lower the gourami.

 

[eschaton]

Hey. Right, I need to get to the bottom of this! I have had a Juwel Rio 125 set up almost a year and there's been fighting issues with pretty much all the species of fish i've had in there, when there's been more than 1 of the species. I'll elaborate:

Emperor Tetras - 5 males continually fought for dominance and knock around most other fish. 3 have died due to this. Lots more females so not a ratio issue. Remaining 2 in separate tanks due to fighting and stressing out other fish.

Bristlenose Catfish - Larger of 2 males bullied the smaller. Swapped larger male for female. Smaller male then bullied female. Female moved to separate tank.

Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids - Bought 1 male and 1 female. Read they do well in a harem so bought another female. This female was bullied by the male so took her back. Male unfortunately died (I believe due to stress from being beaten up by a male emperor). Recently bought a replacement male but he was knocking around the female and is now in another tank.

Dwarf Gouramis - Bought a pair. Male continually chased and knocked around female. Female got ill and died.

Siamese Flying Foxes - Bought a pair. Smaller continually chased and damaged by larger. Larger taken back.

Keyhole Cichlids - Bought a pair. Smaller continally chased and....you get the idea. Smaller taken back.

What the hell is going on? Are all fish like this?

Emperor Tetras - should only have one male per tank, as they are highly territorial. Bigger males often kill smaller males

Bristlenose - Are territorial about their space in the tank - especially between males. Maybe your tank was too small.

Apisto - While peaceful for a Cichlid, males are well known to attack other fish, including females, during the spawning season.

Dwarf Gourami - Much like guppies, the males harass females. They need to be kept in groups two or three females per male.

Flying fox - Get territorial as they age. Are not schooling fish like true SAE.

Keyholes - Supposed to be peaceful. I haven't a clue here.

Overall I'd say you had a mixture of bad stocking and bad luck.

 

[Jimbo1984]

Wow, thanks for that! I did my research and checked with the shops, which is annoying. There is a lot of conflicting information on different websites and I guess the shop assistants just wanted to get the tills more full! My flying fox is a true SAE I believe. Anyway, I guess i'll do a lot more research in future. Thanks for the info guys!

 

[CFC]

Quite simply the tank is too small and the numbers of fish are too low, with cichlids and gouramies especially you cannot just buy two random fish and expect them to get along in a small tank, to get a pair you have to buy groups of juviniles and then let nature take its course for them to decide who they want to pair with.