Convict's Agression With Other Fish (Getting Old)

[J-Aqua]

I have almost a year old convict, he's about full grown (i think) it was given to me as a present and a cool addition to my NEW tank. Before I added the convict I started out with a Bloodmouth Parrot, and a small Jack Dempsey. The Bloodmouth Parrot is almost all orange in color. I am guessing he is pretty mature in age. The convict is a little bit bigger then the BP and a lot bigger then the Jack. Which first was my concern. So I waited about 4 days before adding the Convict so the other fish could astablish territory. I have a pretty big size ornament in the center of the tank (castle) which has a pretty big hiding spot. Initially that spot was the BP until the convict came in. They kinda battled it out in the begining, but the convict won (I guess) and now the castle is his.

However, the convict whenever he see the BP he nips or pushes him. He ignores the Jack Dempsey. Its getting to the point where the parrot fish has no where to rest or hide and I am worried that he will continue to do it and the BP will just give up and die.

I have a 29G tank (which might be to small for those fish), but is there anything I could do to make the BP more comfortable. More plants or another small hiding spot? I just feel bad for the poor fish (Lol).

J

 

[severum mama]

I hate to bring you bad news, but the only thing you can do to stop the aggression is to rehome the convict or the BP. If the BP is smaller than the convict, then it is nowhere near adult size- BPs can grow up to 7-8 inches total length, and an adult BP IME wouldn't have trouble with a convict, provided it is a single con and not a pair. It sounds like you are pretty attached to the BP, so maybe you should look into giving the convict away to an LFS or something. I know you say your Jack Dempsey ignores the other fish, but trust me, this will change. In addition to growing much too large for a 29 gallon, about 10+ inches I believe, the Dempsey will likely become much more aggressive with age. I had to get rid of mine for this reason.

I think your best bet right now is to give up the Dempsey and then choose to either keep the convict (you could keep a pair in a 29 gallon indefinitely if you wanted to) and find a new home for the BP, or to keep the BP and find a new home for the convict. Your aggression problems will continue to worsen otherwise. Sorry for the bad news, and I hope things work out for you.

 

[J-Aqua]

I hate to bring you bad news, but the only thing you can do to stop the aggression is to rehome the convict or the BP. If the BP is smaller than the convict, then it is nowhere near adult size- BPs can grow up to 7-8 inches total length, and an adult BP IME wouldn't have trouble with a convict, provided it is a single con and not a pair. It sounds like you are pretty attached to the BP, so maybe you should look into giving the convict away to an LFS or something. I know you say your Jack Dempsey ignores the other fish, but trust me, this will change. In addition to growing much too large for a 29 gallon, about 10+ inches I believe, the Dempsey will likely become much more aggressive with age. I had to get rid of mine for this reason.

I think your best bet right now is to give up the Dempsey and then choose to either keep the convict (you could keep a pair in a 29 gallon indefinitely if you wanted to) and find a new home for the BP, or to keep the BP and find a new home for the convict. Your aggression problems will continue to worsen otherwise. Sorry for the bad news, and I hope things work out for you.

Thanks for the reply. Thats what I was thinking. I am attached to all fish. I especially like the Jack he follows me up and down the kitchen which is pretty damn cool. The funny thing is the person that I got the Convict from came from the same type of fish (Jack, and BP) and the convict was never as aggresive as he is in my tank. In the other tank he was a little smaller then the Jack and the parrot was much smaller then mine in my tank. Thats what I don't get is why he is picking on them. Maybe he is still going through territory issues?

You think it might help to get another hiding spot. I am sure the parrot would hide in any kind of dark hiden spot. He trys to fit in a small window on the castle but he doesnt quite fit lol. Any suggestions would help!

J

 

[Zagz]

If you are really attached to all the fish, you will need a much larger tank with many more hiding spots. What severum mama is saying is that as time goes on and the older the fish get the more and more aggression you will see. They are all getting older and as they mature their aggression becomes more evident.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Yep, your fish are acting exactly as nature designed them.

What size tank is all this taking place in?

 

[JRagg]

Yep, your fish are acting exactly as nature designed them.

What size tank is all this taking place in?

29g

It's buried in the original text.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Oh yeah, that's way too small for the species you've currently got. If it were my tank, I'd decide which of the three I wanted to keep and then remove the other two. Otherwise, you're more than likely to end up with severely injured and/or dead fish.