Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Other pet critters - Birds, fish, rabbits, reptiles, rodents and exotics > Fish

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old January 20th, 2006, 02:50 PM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,955
Fish Fight

I have a Suckermouth catfish and blood parrot fish. Both fish are suppose to get along with other fish, so far, I have no problems with them getting along with my other fish in my tank.

I noticed Suckermouth and blood parrot are nipping at each others fins aggressively!! I knocked on the glass of the tank so they would seperate which they did.

Is this normal?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old January 20th, 2006, 02:52 PM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,955
Here a picture of a blood parrot fish
Attached Images
 
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old January 20th, 2006, 03:01 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10,287
Never ever bang on the glass of a tank. To the fish, it sounds like a sonic boom and can literally scare them to death or make them leap out of the tank.

Your tank is WAY too small for the fish you have in it. Parrots like yours are cichlids and can be aggressive, particularly in a too-small tank.

You need to either get a much bigger tank, or another tank. Suckermouths can grow to be a foot long.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old January 20th, 2006, 03:03 PM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,955
My tank is 30 gallons, theirs plenty of room for them to swim in. Also, my tank is not jammed pack with fish.

What should I do, when I see them nipping at each others fins?
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old January 20th, 2006, 03:42 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10,287
I know your tank isn't jam packed! It doesn't have to be packed to be too small, depending on species of fish.

I'm saying it's too small for what you have, and will certainly not hold the suckermouth as it gets bigger.

There's nothing you can do about the fin nipping, except separate them or get a bigger tank as I said. Or return one of them to the petstore (the suckermouth, if you dont' want to get a bigger tank) Or watch both of them lose all their fins!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old January 20th, 2006, 05:13 PM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,955
Why the stores take back the fish? If I buy a bigger tank, they will always grow and the tanks will always get too small? Right???
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old January 20th, 2006, 05:14 PM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,955
Fish Problems

Will the stores take back the fish, i had it over a year? If I buy a bigger tank, they will always grow and the tanks will always get too small? Right??
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old January 20th, 2006, 05:36 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10,287
Yes, petstores will take fish off your hands. They won't usually pay you, but will let you exchange it for some merchandise.

Quote:
If I buy a bigger tank, they will always grow and the tanks will always get too small? Right??
Not if you get fish that don't grow too large. Petstores are terrible in that they sell baby fish that will grow VERY large (arrowanas, Oscars, etc) or fish that cannot be kept in a home aquarium on maturity, and either don't know or won't tell people how big they get.

There are a great many kinds of fish that would be very happy in a 30gal!
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old January 20th, 2006, 05:56 PM
poodletalk poodletalk is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,955
What fish do you think I should take back? I really don't want to do it, but I don't want to buy a bigger tank either!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old January 20th, 2006, 06:56 PM
gottahavepets's Avatar
gottahavepets gottahavepets is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Stony Plain, Alberta
Posts: 153
Honestly I'd take back the suckerfish and get some otos. You could probably have 6 and they'd do a wonderful job of cleaning the tank. I have recently discovered they do not exist solely on algae, they also like shrimp pellets and whatever else they find. The trick to introducing them into a tank with a cichlid is to first bag the cichlid, use a leftover fish bag or a clean large ziploc or grocery bag, tie it off with lots of air and float it in the tank, to get the fish in the bag use a tasty treat as bait, works like a dream. Gradually introduce the new fish, if it's otos or cories really take your time, you can do small water changes on the cichlids bag during this time. After you've introduced the new fish allow them some time to explore thye tank, continue changing the water in the bag. Just before releasing the cichlid back into the tank turn off the lights. This reduces stress on the new fish and the cichlid will have a hard time finding the new fish to beat up on. I used this method with my krib after she bullied my otos and it worked great when I introduced the next batch of fish. Highly aggressive fish don't like strangers showing up in their tanks. Another way to do it is to turn out the lights rearrange the tank then in the morning everyone starts fresh.
__________________
Fins, Fur or Feathers I gottahavepets!
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old January 20th, 2006, 09:37 PM
Sneaky's Avatar
Sneaky Sneaky is offline
Fish Guru - Formerly sneakypete79
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Ladysmith British Columbia
Posts: 536
Its a common mistake many beginners make is to way overstock a small tank with big fish.
If you noticed in your other post, to which I responded, your Common Pleco - not a "suckermouth catfish", will grow to be 24 inches maybe bigger.
It needs a tank 75-125g to live in.
Blood Parrots, I see you have 2, grow to 6-7 inches, and require a tank 55g or larger.
I am not sure what other fish you have in the tank, but between the pleco and the two blood parrots, you have 40 inches of large active messy fish in a 30g tank.

You said - wont they just continue growing in a larger tank - the answer is yes and no. In a larger tank they will grow to their max size (the pleco will anyway regardless), which is healthy and normal. In a smaller tank, the blood parrots will become stunted, which for an already genetically mutated fish (notice the hump - thats a deformed spine), stunting can be lethal.
No more than you would keep a great dane puppy in a closet, should you keep a large fish in a small tank.
They may seem to have a lot of space, but its not adequate enough for their needs.
Fish stores, unfortunately, are mainly about making as many $$$$ as possible, and if that means selling you huge fish for a small tank, espescially when you return to either buy more fish cuz they die, or sell them to them, off which they always make a large profit, they do it, regardless of the ethics and proper treatment of such fish.

For a 30g tank, the maximum size fish I would recommend would be a single pearl gourami at 4 inches. This fish is suitable for a small tank such as yours.

I think your best option would be to upgrade to a larger tank - which is what I did when I found my fish got too large for my 25g tank - I got a 90g instead.
Not only are larger tanks more pleasing, and allow for more fish, but they are less work as well and far more stable.

I would definetly remove the pleco and sell it back to a pet store. Call around, many will take it off your hands for store credit or even cash.
You likely are not going to get a tank large enough for a 2 foot long fish, so the best thing you can do for your pleco is rehome him.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:43 AM.