Snowblood

After my cycle finally completed in my 12Gal tank, I got 2 new guppies to keep my big Bukowski company. Three boys, healthy and beautiful, but Main Guppy, who survived the cycle and in fact flourished and grew HUGE and gorgeous, has turned into a complete thug, and will NOT stop charging and stressing out his new friends. One of them, Borges, the red-and-black boy, has learned to hide behind the coral and leave Kafka on his own to deal with bukowski one-on-one. Bukowski and Kafka are both turquoise-blue, but Kafka's way smaller as of now than his maniacal tankmate.

The fishstore guy said I need to bring girls into the mix, but I really don't want to put more than 4 fish in this 12 gallon tank, nor do I want fry, not now and not when I'm unable to afford the added frybaby responsibility. Is there some kind of fish-catnip I can get, like fish-valium or something? No seriously! What can I do for these guys to help them stop this awful, endless strife before they start dying from sheer exhaustion and stress?

Shawnie

take out the bully, re arrange the deco, and then put him back in after 30-40 mins....that should help...if not, you may need girlfriends or the bully have his own tank

Snowblood

Really, will it be that easy? I sure hope this works! So, he'll be cool in a big bowl of tank-water for 30 minutes, right? Now, mind you, he's like the Alpha male in there, since it was his territory before the two new guys arrived yesterday and because he is a great deal bigger and stronger. Rearrange the decorations? That's what I do?

Shawnie

thats a suggestion thats worth a try ...will it work? who knows...for how long if it does? n one knows that either...but doesnt hurt to try...totally make it different and yes with some tank water he should be fine for 30 min....goodluck and I hope it works!! otherwise, he may need his own pad

Snowblood

I've begun setting things up, gona get him out in a minute and start rearranging the furniture. I thought about it and it kind of makes sense, because if fish really do have super-short memory spans, Bukowski might forget he was enemies with the two newbies, plus he might forget that the tank was originally his territory, thus they'd all get to start fresh on a new page. Yeah! O.K., here goes...

Shawnie

goooooooooodluck!! ill keep my fingers crossed!!!!

whenver I add a new fish and I have a tank "bully" , I remove the bully prior to adding new fish...re decorate the pad, then put the newbies in..wait 30 min and put the bully back in ...its like he/she thinks they have been moved and the additions are ignored..I hope this works for you!! (sometimes it has to be done once a month or so ...I had a gourami that I had to change often LOL)

Snowblood

That took me awhile, re-planting all the plants, re-setting all the different rocks and shells, setting up a good hiding-place, la la la. I put Bukowski back in the tank after he was out for almost an hour, and for the first, oh, eight minutes or so, everyone seemed pretty chill. Didn't last long, though, and now Kafka & Bukowski are back to their old fight and poor Borges just tries to stay out of their way. I don't know what I'm going to do about this situation, but I can't stand their relentless fighting, yet I can't afford to bring females in. Now what should I try?

Shawnie

im sorry...other than his own tank, or return him. theres not much else...even with girlies, he might still bully to be the king of all of them...goodluck tho!

Snowblood

*heavy sigh* I don't know what I'm going to do. Anyway, the fish store is closed for the day, so I can't buy girls OR take the boys back which I seriously do NOT want to do, they're such lovely, healthy guppies and have unusually beautiful colouring that I rarely see in any fish stores. What if I blacked-out the light in there for a while, would that calm them all down so they could get a break from this stressful war?

Shawnie

do you have a piece of plastic mesh or something to divide him on one side for the nite? or even a breeder box to hang over the tank? at least until decisions can be made tomorrow, I would shut off all lighting

Snowblood

That's exactly what I was thinking, to put up a temporary divider of some kind, but I didn't think of the netting idea, that sounds perfect. Thanks Shawnie! O.k., now I have to find some netting and de-germify it and get these boys away from their cruel and tireless tormentor. Now where to find some mesh....

JChacon

Like said above, try and isolate Mr. Bully. It makes sense, because when the bully is isolated and trapped, and sees the others around him swimming freely, he'll probably feel he is no longer dominant. Perhaps keep him in a floating cup (filled with water, of course) and place that cup in the tank. I tried this actually and it worked very well surprisingly.

ray_sj

I had the same problem a few months ago. You can use a breeder box or cup to separate them temporarily, as suggested above. However, I would not keep them in such a confined space longer than absolutely required to find an alternative solution. They will get very stressed in the confined space and possibly get sick.

COBettaCouple

They actually have a pretty good memory span. The purpose of rearranging the decor is to take away the 'territory' of the dominant fish. But if the behavior has continued, you may want to put more plants and caves in, if possible.

kirsty0569

I have same problem with one of my blue guppies. He continually harassed another orange guppy and also continually has a go at my female dwarf gourami... nips the gourami and chases the orange fella down to the bottom of the tank. The orange one never comes out now. I put the bully in a hatching compartment in the tank to give the other fish a break; the orange one cautiously came out and swam around the top of the tank. I was hoping that the aggressive guppy will leave the others alone when he goes back in main tank... I've read though that Guppies form social groups and remember each other, so I don't know if his behaviour will change... but at least the others have had a break while he's been in the cool off room....