Bullying! What to do?

[ndtyank49]

One my female black swordtails is bullying my other female. What can i do to stop this? It just started happening a week ago. Could it be the absence of a male? My pet shop hasn't gotten any black swordtails in though yet. What should I do?

 

[TheFishBoss97]

add more plants/decor/cover........ maybe buy another female to lower aggression towards a single fish so it can be split

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What size tank and what other tank mates?

 

[ndtyank49]

What size tank and what other tank mates?

Its a 30gal hexagon tank.
2 female painted swordtails
2 female black swordtails
2 young cichilds
1 Redtail shark

 

[Pleco11771]

That redtail is going to get to big for that tank unless it a 30 gallon wide hex

 

[Mumma.of.two]

As pleco said the RTS is going to out grow your tank unfortunately. I have one in my 70gallon and he is very aggressive towards my other fish. I'm considering rehoming him and so should you. What kind of cichlids do you have?

The swordtails are fine IMO as suggested above try rearranging your tank and see if that helps. Add some plants (plastic/silk or real) and see if that helps.

 

[jcolon]

Its a 30gal hexagon tank.
2 female painted swordtails
2 female black swordtails
2 young cichilds
1 Redtail shark

You wont have the worry about the swordtail much longer. That RTS ... which I'm assuming is a juvenile ... will start to assert it's territorial aggressiveness as it matures. A 30gal is not enough space for it to claim a territory ... so it'll probably just claim the whole tank. My RTS is the boss and pretty much claims the whole tank and it's only 3 inches ... another 2-3 inches to go.