Hi all,
I am currently battling some aggression in my 55 gal peacock tank and had some questions. All water parameters are correct, except my ph is a bit low for lake malawi (around 7.2). Current stock: 2 ob peacock males about 2.5" and 3.5", 1 jacob male about 2" 1 sunshine peacock about 2"(unsexed, but I was pretty sure it's a male), 1 red dragon peacock about 2" (pretty sure male) 1 pleco.
The bigger OB is definitely the tank boss. No one seems to fight except for the two OBs HATE each other. The smaller was getting beat badly so I removed and rehabilitated him in a hospital tank. I put a divider in the hospital and introduced the bigger OB and the smaller one was trying to start a fight through the divider. The bigger one didn't seem to care.
The bigger Ob is back in the show tank, smaller still in the hospital. I've noticed the OB do the mating flourishing behavior in front of the sunshine, but I've never seen anyone hold. My questions are:
1. Might the Larger OB be mistaking the sex of the sunshine for a female? Or is it definitely a female? I want to have all males to reduce aggression.
2. Would removing rocks/hiding spots help with aggression reduction? I can't seem to get a solid reading on this. Some say it would eliminate the need for them to fight over an area, others say rocks are necessary for smaller fish to hide in. What do you all think?
I am currently battling some aggression in my 55 gal peacock tank and had some questions. All water parameters are correct, except my ph is a bit low for lake malawi (around 7.2). Current stock: 2 ob peacock males about 2.5" and 3.5", 1 jacob male about 2" 1 sunshine peacock about 2"(unsexed, but I was pretty sure it's a male), 1 red dragon peacock about 2" (pretty sure male) 1 pleco.
The bigger OB is definitely the tank boss. No one seems to fight except for the two OBs HATE each other. The smaller was getting beat badly so I removed and rehabilitated him in a hospital tank. I put a divider in the hospital and introduced the bigger OB and the smaller one was trying to start a fight through the divider. The bigger one didn't seem to care.
The bigger Ob is back in the show tank, smaller still in the hospital. I've noticed the OB do the mating flourishing behavior in front of the sunshine, but I've never seen anyone hold. My questions are:
1. Might the Larger OB be mistaking the sex of the sunshine for a female? Or is it definitely a female? I want to have all males to reduce aggression.
2. Would removing rocks/hiding spots help with aggression reduction? I can't seem to get a solid reading on this. Some say it would eliminate the need for them to fight over an area, others say rocks are necessary for smaller fish to hide in. What do you all think?