Drew04

I'm worried about our female GBR. She has lost almost all her color, and lost some weight and is now being very aggressively picked on by the male GBR. The male's coloration is as vibrant as ever and he is noticeably larger than her. They were purchased together about 2-3 months ago and have been inseparable in our tank ever since. But in the past few days, she has gone pale, her dorsal fin no longer stands erect when stationary and the male is being very abusive towards her.

What's up?

Water parameters are fine

Shawnie

when you say fine, what are they? unusual that they would be a pair for so long and now shes being picked on...are the gbr's in with all the other fish listed in your info?

Drew04

Hmm, looks like I haven't updated my profile in awhile.

4 Bloodfin tetras
2 GBRs
1 Angelfish
1 Black-Banded Leporinus
1 True Siamese Algae Eater

Water:
Temp: 78
pH: 7.5
Amm: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: around 80 (tap water is high)

I know the nitrates make you say "WOW there's the problem" But the fish acclimated fine, even for GBRs. And the male is fine, color and activity wise. Something happened over the course of 2-3 days.

I did a water change (approx 20%) on saturday, but if something bad happened to be in the water, wouldn't it effect all the fish, or at least BOTH of the same species?

The GBRs were not necessarily a mated pair, but they were at least best friends. Now the male will actually dart after the female if he sees her, ramming his nose into her side. They used to swim and eat side by side, and when I say 'used to', I mean like last week.

Drew04

I actually mistook her for one of our bloodfin tetras a few times, that's how pale she is.

Butterfly

You might want to isolate her, feed her good for a few days and let her rest. Frequently male GBR's just wear their females out. This is why I usually recommend a harem if there's room in the tank.
carol

cerianthus

Sometimes sexing GBR is difficult unless paired off. Could it be that small one is immature/young male. Even i bred GBR on numerous occassion using different pairs, i may have difficulty when small unless shows me certain behaviors/colors. How about isolatng the small one in breeder trap/DIY contraptions until can determined the reasons?
Always check water when this sort of thing takes place to avoid further difficulties.
Even though GBR had been captive bred for long time, they were evolved to adapt to softer/slightly acidic water. Pronged exposure to extreme water can lead to this sort of unanswerable mishap. Because someone's/one fish does well does not verify all will acclimate/adapt well..
Hope all goes well!!

Drew04

I am quite certain I have one male and one female. The male has an elongated 3rd barb on his dorsal fin and the female has a rosy belly.

I will pick up a breeding trap over the weekend and get her in there.

Drew04

I picked up a breeder trap and decided to isolate the aggressive male rather than punishing the female victim. Once he was isolated in the floating trap, she stayed right by his side, rarely leaving the clear iso-trap. We left him in there about 12 hours (overnight) and I put a little chip of an algae wafer in his new confinement box. They both love algae wafers at night.

In the morning, the female's color had returned and she seemed bigger because she was no longer holding her fins tight to her body. She was still hanging out right by the trap. The male's coloration was still vibrant, but he seemed very disinterested in breakfast.

I released him after doing my weekly water change and he seemed hesitant to really swim around. I tossed a wafer in and both rams were eating side by side. I was happy, as it seemed his brief stay in jail made him realize his unacceptable behavior.

All good things come to an end... a few hours later he was back at her, non stop. We let them be, figuring they were maybe just getting to know each other again. After a few hours, the female started to lose her color again and was contantly hiding from his predatory tactics.

BACK TO JAIL YOU GO!

and there she was, staying right by the trap again.

We decided to keep him isolated for a longer period of time. She is definitely not sick, but it appears that his new aggression is stressing her out. Strangely, she seems to miss his company when he's in jail.

Lucy

Wow, sounds like a love hate relationship. lol
How sweet of you not to punish the victim. Have you considered adding another female or two?

I love GBRs I know this is off topic, but may I ask how hard your water is?

04_si

have they bred in the 2-3 months youve had them?