Went against my better judgement

[MonsterFishCreeper]

I made my first impulse fish buy ever and I'm unsure if I made a mistake. I have a single male GT alone in a 55 (not permanent tank) that's about 5 3/4 - 6" that I got from rapps. He's a stunning specimen. I was at the LFS a little while ago and they had a nice looking 3 1/2 female GT and I decided to give it a go. He is very keenly interested in everything she's doing during the first 45 mins but there has definitely been some chasing and pushing around by the bigger fish. Would this be normal to expect a solo fish to do some pushing and shoving when someone new comes into his territory? She's definitely smaller but I watched her for a good long time and im almost positive she is a she. What do you guys think?

 

[BMac91]

Pretty normal to have some pushing and shoving when you just introduce another fish to a tank with a fish that has been a solo fish. Keep a watch on it, if it gets too bad you might have to separate. I'd have a divider on hand if it doesn't calm down.

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

I have a way to separate them if I need to but I may have to get the small one into a tank for the mean time and try reintroducing them together when the GT goes into the 125. The way hes acting is that the entire tank has already been claimed by him and I'm guessing the female not being breeding size has him wanting her out.

 

[BMac91]

If you have a 125, now may be a good time to go ahead and move them both. New tank = new territory and not something that has already been "claimed". There isn't really a one size fits all answer for this, unfortunately. You will have to try different things until it works. Personally, I would move them into the 125 and see how they act. Some fish don't care what you move them to, they will do as they please. I had a JD like this, I could move it anywhere with any number of fish, but she had it out for this one specific Oscar and would wait until the lights went out to beat the crap out of him. I ended up having to rehome it to someone that could provide a solo tank, cause it wasn't having tank mates.

Just important to remember, it's always a possibility with fish that they don't want tank mates. It's a lot easier to get away from a bully in a river than it is in a 6ft tank.

Also, breeding is a patience thing too. They may not have love at first sight, they might get into some spats and then one day decide that they are ok with each other enough make it happen. Just something you have to deal with.

 

[Frank Castle]

I have a way to separate them if I need to but I may have to get the small one into a tank for the mean time and try reintroducing them together when the GT goes into the 125. The way hes acting is that the entire tank has already been claimed by him and I'm guessing the female not being breeding size has him wanting her out.

lol my female GTs are some nasty fish.....I have a 4" female that won't back down from ANYTHING, including several fish much larger and heavier than her......a RD, a FH, a Redhead, and some more. She is one of the top dawgs in my thread of Frank's fish.

Perhaps she just needs some time to realize what she is. As long as you don't see heavily torn fins or missing scales, let Nature take it's course.

1st course of action before moving fish should always be adding more caves and hide -spaces


Fish will determine their own hierarchy

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

I don't have the 125 set up yet its going to be about 2 more months until the new room is renovated then I have permission to set up 1 or 2 bigger tanks which will let me play with my stocking levels a bit. The fiance isn't having any more tanks in the mutual living spaces and I don't really blame her.The good news is, if this female isn't tolerated at any point I can always keep her in the 55 or add another tank. I love GT's so I'll do whatever I have to do to accommodate her.

I am gonna move the female to a solo tank in my office for now until she has a little more size on her. At least another month or two as slow as they grow. She seemed bigger in the store or maybe in my head my male was smaller. I want to be sure that even if there are some spats that she has enough size on her to not get immediately killed. He is still only mildly tolerating her presence and she is sticking very close to a pvc tube I put in there for her. Oh well now I get to have a grow out tank in my office for a bit.

 

[neutrino]

The new territory suggestion is sometimes helpful, puts both fish on an equal footing, but success will still depend on the individual fish.

What you're describing could also be courting behavior. In any case, even if there's courting interest, there's no guarantee the two will or won't be compatible. Putting a random male and female together sometimes works but not always. There are other traditional things to try, such as other fish in the tank to give the prospective pair something else to focus on and a possible reason to bond with each other in the interest of working together to claim spawning territory and protect it and potential offspring from the other fish, etc.

Some of this just depends on the individual fish. One thing is true, a larger tank does improve your odds.

 

[neutrino]

Just a thought, but imo and if it was me, if I eventually wanted them together, I'd try fixing up a divider where they can see each other, at least for a while. It gives you two advantages: 1) I've done this before and had fish that initially didn't like each other at all come to accept the each other's presence, so eventually not a problem. In some cases it takes some time. 2) No guarantee when you lift the divider, but you may see some indication the two fish have come to accept each other or you may see that even with time they hate each other. Can help you decide whether to try putting them together.

Two types of dividers I've fixed up for this purpose. One is you can get one of those adjustable window screens of a suitable size and use that. The other thing I've done is cut a clear acrylic or plexi piece to fit and drill it with holes to allow water flow.

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

Anyone else have an opinion on the sex of the picture I posted? The round fins and duller colors have me thinking female. Hopefully I don't end up with two males.

 

[Frank Castle]

Anyone else have an opinion on the sex of the picture I posted? The round fins and duller colors have me thinking female. Hopefully I don't end up with two males.

2? I only see on picture....and it's every characteristic screams "female"