Bought several fish about 2 weeks ago - 1 female juvenile convict, 1 tiny Bolivian ram, and 3 dwarf gourami. My plan was to keep everybody in QT for at least 2 weeks before adding them to my 55gal community tank (angel fish, Bolivian & German blue rams, tetras, cories, and a BN pleco). I got the convict, Barbarella, because I'd had one in the past and although she could be a pest at times, she was never a bully.
Back to the QT. A few days in, I could see that Barbarella was doing a number on the other fish, and unfortunately before I had time to move her to the main tank, I think she pestered one of the gourami to death (just a guess, he seemed healthy until he was dead). Moved her to my main tank this past Friday, with the other new fish remaining in QT, and all seemed to be going well in both tanks. Got home tonight though and noticed my big male angel fish, Phantom, looked like he'd been through the ringer, and Barbarella seemed to be stalking him. To give you an idea of size difference, Barbarella is about the size of my thumb, Phantom is about as big as my hand.
Since the two species tend to occupy different areas of the tank, I'd really never thought about the convict going after my angel fish, but she's determined. I'd really like to keep Barbarella but not at the cost of the health of fish I've had for years. Aside from getting rid of the convict, the only thing I can think of to try would be re-arranging the tank, but since I don't have much that tall in the tank I don't know what good this will do.
Any other suggestions? Some fishy Valium would be great. . . I've thought of putting her in my 75gal turtle tank (Phil's pretty spoiled and lazy, doubt the convict would be dinner) but I'm not sure if that would be good for the fish.
Thanks
EDIT - I did some more digging and it looks like others have had success in keeping convicts with turtles (one example). If it helps, my turtle tank receives the same quality care that my fish do - generous filtration, heated, and 25-30% WC each week.
Any thoughts? I'm really leaning towards moving Barbie in with the turtle unless someone knows of something I'm not considering.
Back to the QT. A few days in, I could see that Barbarella was doing a number on the other fish, and unfortunately before I had time to move her to the main tank, I think she pestered one of the gourami to death (just a guess, he seemed healthy until he was dead). Moved her to my main tank this past Friday, with the other new fish remaining in QT, and all seemed to be going well in both tanks. Got home tonight though and noticed my big male angel fish, Phantom, looked like he'd been through the ringer, and Barbarella seemed to be stalking him. To give you an idea of size difference, Barbarella is about the size of my thumb, Phantom is about as big as my hand.
Since the two species tend to occupy different areas of the tank, I'd really never thought about the convict going after my angel fish, but she's determined. I'd really like to keep Barbarella but not at the cost of the health of fish I've had for years. Aside from getting rid of the convict, the only thing I can think of to try would be re-arranging the tank, but since I don't have much that tall in the tank I don't know what good this will do.
Any other suggestions? Some fishy Valium would be great. . . I've thought of putting her in my 75gal turtle tank (Phil's pretty spoiled and lazy, doubt the convict would be dinner) but I'm not sure if that would be good for the fish.
Thanks
EDIT - I did some more digging and it looks like others have had success in keeping convicts with turtles (one example). If it helps, my turtle tank receives the same quality care that my fish do - generous filtration, heated, and 25-30% WC each week.
Any thoughts? I'm really leaning towards moving Barbie in with the turtle unless someone knows of something I'm not considering.
