Female Community

[Tammy]

I have just set up a 20L tank with Java moss and 7 females but they all seem so aggressive towards each other. I was hoping they would settle down into a pecking order after a few days but they are all still at each other. I am ending up with damaged fins and red scratches around the gill areas.. They came from a very busy community tank so its not like they are not used to company... Can anyone suggest what I should do other than separating them. Somebody should come up with calming additives you can stick in the water (hmm, the fishy version of a nice chamomile tea!) I really really dont want more (ugly) heated tanks filled with jars (like my males are now!) Any advise is welcome. Thanks :blush:

[Callatya]

let them joust, once they have a pecking order, it should settle down. If there is a particularly violent one, just jar her til the others are settled. Silly question, but i've been caught before, so i'll ask anyway... are you sure they are all females? no shortfin males?

[Mishy]

Tammy, if you see my post on the hospital thread, my girls have been together for weeks now and only now i'm having trouble with them. One with damaged eyes..

[Canfeleq]

I hate to report this, but every time I have tried to set up a community female tank they wind up either killing or severely damaging each other. The last attempt was in a 6' tank with some large 'holey' rocks (plenty of caves to hide), driftwood and lots & lots of Java fern, Java moss, anubias and water wisteria. 5 females, all the same size and they still managed to find each other and fight. died from their injuries that night and another lasted 3 days before giving up the ghost. Needless to say I now keep all my females in seperate containers - more work but less fatalities. Maybe I just get super aggressive girls :blush:

[Figure_8]

my girls have gone into a community tank this winter for the first time ever. Always jarred them separately like the males before this. There was a fair bit of agression in the first 3 days & I've got to admit I was a little worried there for a while, but it all settled down eventually once the pecking order was established. I think one of the most important things is to make sure that there are enough hiding places/plants in there so that if one is being harassed she can hide it out for a while. Another thought would be to drop a sinking wafer or two into the tank.. give them something to peck at besides each other :blush:

[Tammy]

I have got some more stuff to go in the tank to provide more hiding holes for them so hopefully that will help. I have jarred the meanest looking female (she's already lost an eye somewhere along the line) and might try to re-introduce her once I have put more hidey holes in place. Can you please give me more info on this wafer idea of yours mousey?

[Figure_8]

I drop Hikari Sinking Wafters in my fry tanks to keep them occupied and stop nipping at each other... might be worth trying with the girls :blush:

[edie]

Usually what I do: * make as much disturbance as possible such that none of them feel comfortable. I usually use bubbles pump to make sure the water circulate --> logic: they're too busy trying to get used to the environment that they become friends before they realize it * cage them side by side for a very long while, like a week or more. They will get used to each other that they won't realize when u take off the cage

[Najoha]

when I'm adding girls to the community girl tank, I hang them in the tank for a couple of days in a plastic container. As I'm so addicted , I always seem to be out of room so a male or two floating also distracts the bossy girls. Also feed in 3-4 different spots in the tank at once so everyone gets a feed.

[Tammy]

thanks so much for all the very helpful advice. I am heading home now to try a few of them in the hope that they can get used to each other. Thanks again guys. YOU ARE ALL GREAT!!!

[PinkFishy]

Big thanks from me also. I have had the same problems and my tank is 108ltr. They mostly hide in the cave I have in there and terracotta pot. Problem is then I don't see them and enjoy them. I do think maybe adding more diff. varieties of fish might help. I'll be tracking down some of those wafers.

Lis

thanks so much for all the very helpful advice.

I am heading home now to try a few of them in the hope that they can get used to each other.

Thanks again guys.  YOU ARE ALL GREAT!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[VickiPS]

As well as all the suggestions so far, another thing I've found that helps is to re-arrange the tank, especially when introducing a new female. It changes all the landmarks, so each girl has to re-establish territory (especially the dominant one). You might get a slight increase in squabbling for a few hours, but it settles quickly, usually. One more suggestion -- sometimes a good option is to jar or remove the weakest, rather than the most dominant. That way, the "Heathers" don't have to re-establish the pecking order, but there are fewer stoushes amongst the lower ranks.

[Tammy]

Great Suggestion Vicki about removing the weaker female. Incidentally they all seem to be settling down a bit more. Thanks

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

I had problems when it was a betta only tank. I had so much agression I nearly lost a copper HM female but Paul saw then fighting and luckily the fish recovered. Lots of leafy plants, hiding places and other fish like guppys and neons distract the females from fighting. They still have a nip at each other every now and again but not to the extent they used to fight.

[Mango4Jade]

I've got a female community with bout 20-30 fish...should show aggression so I jar them, but having a slow current and lots of plants for them, they dont usually fish...only when they are fighting for food.