Beat up female GBR

[Jarred Darque]

ok. here is/was the set up. 10 gallon planted tank, pair of GBRs, 1 dwarf puffer, 1 otto, 4 shrimp

This tank has been like this for well over 3 months. prolly closer to 4 or 5. The rams have bred a few times. The puffer never bothered the rams, still havent seen it bother them.

About a month ago, I rearranged the tank and removed alot of the plans in hopes to stave off a major algae outbreak, sothe tank went from heavily planted to lightly planted and fairly empty, a little bit of dwarf sag, and about a 1/2 dozen strands of anacharism the only plants that werent completely covered in algae. the GBRs have not bred since.

Anyways, my GBR female is not looking good. fins are cut up, bad coloring, shallow stomach. The male looks fat and healhy. The GBRs where the same size when I bought them, the male is about 1/2 inch longer now.

I actually think it is the male that did this to the female? Is that probable?

I moved the female to my 29 gallon community tank. I hope she recovers. dont know what I will do except try to get the 10 back to heavily planted conditions and reintroduce the female if she makes it.

The puffer is getting moved next week, but not cause of this.

thanks

 

[Menagerie]

The rams have bred a few times.

GBR female is not looking good. fins are cut up, bad coloring, shallow stomach. The male looks fat and healhy. The GBRs where the same size when I bought them, the male is about 1/2 inch longer now.

They needed to be separated awhile ago--it is very hard on the female to continually lay eggs and guard them; she's using up her resources faster than the male ever will. Now that she's stressed, she can go downhill fast. The male may or may not be chasing her; often males need a few females so the aggression is lessened on any one female. Or she may be stressed due to the puffer even though you have never seen the puffer bother them. In either event, there are fewer places to hide and she's worn out, which leads to “fins are cut up, bad coloring, shallow stomach”.... Fins can be shredded by a tank mate or they can deteriorate on their own, depending on the health of the fish. If she makes it, reintroduce her after replanting the tank (or adding caves) and think about another female or two.

 

[Jarred Darque]

can I have more than 2 GBRs in a 10gallon? If she doesnt make it I do want to replace her aftert I move next week. (this did not come at a good time, I am moving this weekend)

Thankyou for the help. didnt know she shoulda been moved.

 

[Jaybird]

I'm not too sure about dwarf puffers, but the other typical puffers (figure-8, etc) can be very nippy.

I would definitely side with Menagerie's advice about her using up resources.

I had two GBRs once, and I won't likely have anymore. Personally, I love them and have not seen anything as colourful outside of saltwater, but my keyholes pestered the male and he died. The keyholes were a little less than half his size. They are just a little too sensitive for my tank, but I still love them.