May have come up with a solution for bullying

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Mpwallace1

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 7, 2017
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I got 2 male powder dwarf gouramis ( among others) and I got them approx 3 months ago young and they were my 1st fish. They were successful in helping me cycle my aquarium and they both have their own cave and property on each side of the tank. There always was one bully ( no fighting but just chasing from his area) but now that both of them are the same size, I find they do it to each other. The only time they can be beside each other without issue, is when they meet me for feeding at the top of the tank.
I'm getting sick of them acting this way( they leave the cherry barbs, neons, and plecos alone) so I stumbled across this on You tube. This guy took a colour picture of a bigger discus and leaned it up against the glass of his aquarium. The psychology of it is, the fish will now not consider himself the dominate, and he claimed it works. I just did the same thing, a powder blue dwarf gourami about 6 inches and both of them immediately saw it when I put it up. Both of them have retired to their own side of the tank, and the one closest to the picture hangs out on the bottom, and both have not moved much. There's no question something has happened and they have calmed down. My concern is, I don't want them to stress out over it as that can cause disease. Is this the right approach?What's everyone's thought?Maybe short term?
Here's a pic, look closely bottom left at the back, you'll see one of them hiding.
IMG_0053.jpg
 
Oh, I see it embedded in my 1st post. Let me try it as an attachment
IMG_0053.jpg
 
Strange, attachment just throws it in the post..sorry can't do much more than that
 
Interesting effect. Perhaps a bit too much for them. Any way to reduce the size of the image or move it away from the tank (yet still visible to the trouble makers)?
I wonder if they would get used to it after a while.
 
Yea, it could be a bit intimidating, the dwarf grows to 4 inches, the pic is 6. I can't move it back, no ledge on the stand, but tomorrow I'll take another colour photocopy and shrink it down to 5. I imagine they may out grow it, unless I commit to moving it around day to day
 
Well here's the update, I think they are on to me, though it lasted a few days. I caught them aggressively chasing each other back and forth from each of their territory, while the pic was hanging there in plain view. I guess perhaps the reason being nothing chases them around. I suppose it's good they don't bite or bump each other around may be a blessing. I really should have got a female instead of 2 males, but the colours are more vibrant as males. I was new and didn't know better
Thanks
 
I guess you can label this method of lessened aggression as the "scarecrow" method. By the way, nice tank.
 
Thanks, don't be too dazzled, it's a mix of fake and live plants. Need the cover to keep everybody happy until the live ones get big and tall enough.
My next plan of attack is drastically re-arrange everything so they have to start fresh. Maybe then they will snap out of it.
 
I'm no stranger to aggression rearrangement. I keep in shape moving around those big rocks.
Some weigh more than 50 Lbs. What a mess. If you notice the Festae cichlid pictured in the middle has one of his tankmates in his mouth. It's a constant battle. I'm usually successful in obtaining a temporary stalemate, i' m sure you will too.
 

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Thanks for piping in. Love your tank layout, and selection of fish...gorgeous. Shame how the Festae likes to grab his own takeout food.
 
Thanks. The red terrors and green terrors really aren't that bad. Just step out of line every once in a while. Keep AA updated on your tank.
 
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