I have a 16 gallon tank, and when I started out I was wooed by the cute mannerisms of the Blood Parrot Cichlid, and I bought three of them. They were quite small, only about 2" long. After about 6 weeks, one of them jumped out of the tank. I believe that the jumper was being picked on by one of the other two. After he jumped, I noticed that one of the BPs was being very territorial, and the both of them spent most of their time hiding in the tank decorations. I wanted to break up the aggression a bit and get them moving about, so I got some dither fish to make them more comfortable in the tank. I got 5 tiger barbs to start, one of which died, and then I got four more. Of those eight, 6 remain. I also have one pleco (also very small), but he is not in anyone's way and is doing just fine. As far as the barbs go, with six of them they are not really schooling, and the BPs are hiding. However when there were 8 the BP was more aggressive (one of my BPs is not aggressive). My question is, what can I do to break up the aggression in my tank? I realize that my tank is rather small, but my fish are also very small, so I'm not overboard on inches at the moment, and I do plan to transfer to a bigger tank in a few months once I move. For the meantime, how do I stop this one BP from terrorizing the others? Is the solution another more aggressive fish (my local Petsmart worker said getting a convict may help)? A bigger school of barbs? Or should I just leave everything as is and hope for the best?
Comments
re: aggression
what do you mean wait and hope for the best?!?!?!? no one said that at all. you need to either get a 55 gallon aquarium, or get rid of your parrots. you can't keep those fish in a 16 gallon tank. and tiger barbs are going to bite your parrots fins they are too fast for the parrots to stop. you could put a jellybean parrot in there for a year or so but even they get too big for a tank that small. you need at least a 29 gallon aquarium for one parrot and that is still going to end up being too small. these fish get up to 8" long ( or 20cm) and if that tank is a hexagon or tall tank that is even worse. they are probably stunted or they will be. it is kind of like wearing the same pair of shoes your whole life. your feet will grow deformed and eventually stop. the workers at the store you bought the tank should have told you. but most of the stores don't say anything or don't know any better anyway. there are alot of tanks with evrything you need to start on craigslist for very cheap. i got 1500 worth of stuff for 300 i see 55 gallon with stands filters and alot of times even fish for 100. but this problem will not go away and will only get worse unless you do one of the two things that i suggested. if you do nothing, you will be causing you and your fish alot of problems. there is no way that you could even filter your water properly.
Re: HELP!
You are so overstocked for your tank size. It's like putting a cat in a shoe box. Not to mention the size issues as these fish start to grow. You need at least a 55gal if not bigger for what you have right now. This could all cause stress in the fish and poor water quality. You best bet is to get a bigger tank ASAP! Give them some swimming room.
Re: HELP!
I have found a medicine called CopperSafe that is a 'cure all' for most medical issues. It has worked great with ick, velvet, black spot, fungal infection, and some other sicknesses that my parrots have got.
white pimple on head
hi i have not been on in a while but have been reading up on disease my large parrot started off with one pimple on his head now he has a couple of small bumps and white stuff coming out of them my local pet store sold me melafix i have done 25% water change and added this , previously i was just added salt . can someone tell me what is this medicine called clout because from what i have read this seems to help thank you in advance for any advice Debs
Re: HELP!
I am soooo much still a newbie so I don't know if this is absolutely correct so you might want to check. But I have been under the assumption that a 16 gallon tank isn't big enough for even 1 Blood Parrot. But I seen you will be getting a bigger tank. I don't think Tiger Barbs are compatible with Blood Parrots. I put mine in with some the first day I brought him home and they constantly picked on him so I put him with my more docile fish until he is bigger then he is going into a silver dollar tank.
aggression...
im sorry but the aggression isn't going to stop until you get a bigger tank.the minimum tank size for 2 parrots is at least a 40 gal, but i suggest a 55 gallon nd 10 more gallons for every additional parrot.and tiger barbs aren't the best tank mates for parrots.they're too aggressive espically when there are only 5 or 6! if tiger barbs are in commuinity tank they should be in a large group( like 10 - 12)i had a 29 gallon speices tank of tiger barbs(i had like 15 of them) and they looked beautiful but when i added another tiger barb or other fish in the tank they would all gang up on the new fish and in an hour or so the new fish would be dead.your pleco might be small now but they get huge! they get bigger then parrots and when they get bigger they get more aggressive and when the parrots lay eggs the pleco will eat all of the eggs.i made the mistake of having a pleco in my 55 gallon tank with my parots and he would start big fights with my biggest parrot (which i called sugar)but he and sugar died in a ick distster not to long ago.
aggression
so all i can really do is wait and hope for the best?