New member query about fish behaviour

[Gaz77]

Hi only add fish in my tank for a week and over the past few days I have noticed that when I feed the fish 1 of the balloon Molly's starts chasing the other Molly's like he is bullying them .and sometimes it happens with the two pear gourami the bigger one will chase the other away .is this normal behaviour?

 

[Gaz77]

Hi only add fish in my tank for a week and over the past few days I have noticed that when I feed the fish 1 of the balloon Molly's starts chasing the other Molly's like he is bullying them .and sometimes it happens with the two pear gourami the bigger one will chase the other away .is this normal behaviour?

Plus can anybody tell me which is best ,to feed once a day or twice a day? Answers on a post card please!only joking on this post is fine.

 

[henningc]

To best answer your question it would be handy to know what size tank you have. The behavior is normal and they are establishing a pecking order. Make sure you don't have two male Leeris-Pearl Gouramis. They can get a bit compative with each other.

Feed twice a day or more, just keep it in small amounts. Don't beleive the lable on the fishfood, as much as they can eat in a minute and a half is a good rule.

If you have additional questions feel free to P.M. me.

 

[Gaz77]

Thanks I have a jewel 700 ,15 gallons.
Just returned home to find one of my cardenail tetra half eaten ? My first fatality !

 

[Slavo]

Sorry to hear about the tetra ...

How many fish do you have in this 15g tank? I believe you mentioned 2 mollys and 2 pearl gouramis.

Yes, this is normal behaviour, especially at feeding time. Although your fish (the two species you mentioned) are considered peaceful species, they can/will still display bullying at this time.

One way to maybe midigate some this behaviour (from my experience), is to feed your fish small portions twice or three times day. This allow fish that didn't get to eat at the first feeding another opportunity to eat and since they didn't get to eat the first time, they will more than likely be the first to go for food, at the second or third feeding. This is also, in my opinion, a more natural way to feed fish.

Hope this helps!