Fin Nipper question... HELP PLEASE

[HopefulHobbiest]

It's kinda late... 3:37EST but I have a question/problem...

What's the best/humane way to deal with a bully fin nipping fish? LFS don't do trade in and I'm getting tired of watching this fish bully and nip at my other fish but I haven't the slightest idea what to do please help...

I get email notices so I'll get the responses when I wake up.


Thank in advance

 

[jondamon]

Give us a little more information.

What size tank?
What stock do you have?
Which fish is being the nippy one?

Some fish will nip when they aren't in the right number.

For instance my penguin tetras can be nippy if you don't keep them in a group of 5 or more.


Is your nippy fish nipping at everyone in your tank or just the same species?


Jon

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

It's one of my 2 sail fin Molly's in a 55G tank

Also have
2 angel fish
2 Chinese algae eaters
1 eclipse(sun) catfish
6 peppered Cory
4 sunburst platy

The sail fin is going after everyone except the catfish and the two Chinese

 

[Chiroptera]

Ask to "donate" the fish to that store or others. It won't get you any money back or store credit, but it makes it to where you don't have to do anything drastic like the thread suggests. Molly's like company though, so try to get another one and see how that one does.

If you just got these fish, if you have the receipt you could probably return it.

Also, sometimes research is good, because those Chinese algae eaters get fairly large, but the worst part is, they get very, very aggressive and actually won't eat algae later on. They'll try to suck on your fish and that can be really harmful. If you know this then awesome! I'm just making sure. In a 55 you could have a smaller pleco that would be awesome to eat algae, and they have "designer" pleco like the gold nugget that look really beautiful. Just a suggestion.

And as a last note, Eclipse catfish can get to two feet long, though they usually stay at one. Do you plan on upgrading? If not, I'd rehome him, too. He could get stunted in a 55, especially since those tanks Have a small footprint. Did you research these fish and their minimum tank sizes? Since eclipse get that large, he'd probably eat your mollies down the line, too. The platys as well.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

yea i've had the mollys for about two weeks, got them both the same trip. however only one is displaying aggressive behavior, he's also bullying and nipping the other sail fin. i can ask some of the shops if they take donations but i'm not really sure they will...

as far as research goes, yes i'm aware that the fish i have will become much bigger and will at some point require a migration to a much larger tank, but considering most of them are under 4-5in i have some time before that happens, maybe not much time but still you know what i mean.

i also know i'll be upgrading because the last fish i want to get for my tank is the BGK and they get big as well. they also eat smaller fish or pretty much anything that will fit in their mouth. i've done quite a bit of research about the BGK.

i'll make some calls today and see if a shop will take a donation...

thanks

 

[FlyAnglerFishKeeper]

If you "donate" this fish, isn't it just going to do the same thing to some other person's fish? Maybe if you donate it you should tell them it's aggressive. Or maybe it won't be in another setting? I have a nippy fish too.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

If you "donate" this fish, isn't it just going to do the same thing to some other person's fish? Maybe if you donate it you should tell them it's aggressive. Or maybe it won't be in another setting? I have a nippy fish too.

i'm not exactly sure what to do with this molly... i'm just tired of watching him harrass my other fish, its already done some damage to the tail fin of one of my angels... i don't want to just kill it, that would be wrong so that's why i'm asking for suggestions from people who might know what to do...

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Finally found a store, petsmart will take the molly as a donation and they are aware that its aggressive and fin nips...

thanks for all the assistance.