Fish Bullying
Being a fish owner is not always an easy process especially when your fish are not always able to act peacefully in your tank. Fish bullying is a phenomenon that can commonly occur between your fish pets. This bullying is not necessarily caused by the size of fish in the tank, or the typical temperament of your fish either.
In order to prevent Fish bullying it’s important to think about some of these top factors.
Bullying Factors
1. Research species before you integrate: integrating a brand-new species into your tank can often require research. Certain species do not do particularly well when they live with other fish. Tetras for example thrive when they live with other species in schools. Beta fish on the other hand are best kept by themselves. Cichlids are some of the most aggressive fish that you could integrate into a tank to live with other fish however you need to be careful which types of cichlids you mix together. For example, african cichlids cannot be kept with south american cichlids. Discus should not be kept with any other types of cichlids other than discus.
2. Check for signs of nests/eggs: a common reason for Fish bullying comes with the chance your fish could have bred. Many fish can get very territorial in order to protect their babies. Keep separate tanks available if this occurs.
3. Check your water parameters often: if ammonia levels are high inside the tank, fish can get stressed out and often take their aggression out on others inside the tank. Checking your ammonia levels can be important to preventing tragic Fish bullying inside the tank.
4. Give extra food to your bottom feeders: when bottom feeders don’t get access to the food that they need, they can often start to attack other fish for the slime coating on them. Make sure that your bottom dwellers are getting well fed by forcing food to the bottom if you have to.
5. Discus fish need to be kept in groups of 6 or more. Discus are schooling fish and feel safe together in schools. If you have less than six discus chances are they will fight to determine the pecking order.
Keep these ideas in mind on Fish bullying and remember that is completely preventable. By recognizing the signs and doing research early on you can prevent injuries to your fish and maintain a peaceful aquarium.
2 Comments
Matt
I want to introduce discuss to a cycled empty (residents speaking) 50gal. It recommends keeping discus in groups of 6 but there’s no way there is enough room for six discus in my 50 gallon… what to do? It also says they cannot be kept with any other cichlids other than discus but numerous people have told me blue German Rams are pretty chill with discus any thoughts?
Tim
I have the same issue.
I’m going to use a 30 gallon sump for a filter.
It keeps the water more balanced. And every gallon in the sump adds a gallon to how many fish you can keep. I have built 2 and used the Joey King of DYI overflow and a cheep pond pump. The 2 sumps I have built work better then any filters I ever bought.