got a rainbow wolf fish.

Yesterday I bought a rainbow wolf fish from my LFS.

I wasn't really expecting him since they never called when they got hin even though I was on the waiting list.

I have him in my 55g but I have a few fish in there that I will have to give to my lfs so the wolf can be on its own.

Currently there's a 6" Jack Dempsey, 4" ob peacock, 4"frontosa, and a 4.5" pleco currently with him. I just cleaned the tank the say before and rearranged the decor, but the only one bothering him is the Jack Dempsey, just nudging him and getting in his face.

The wolf backs away and doesn't bite him kinda weird... But the wolf is a good 7" and seems like he's missing teeth. Maybe when the lfs took him in he ran unto the tank wall and knocked them out?

I have no pictures yet, but I guess I will wait to see if he attacks any fish before I get rid of them.

There's a few log decorations for him to go under but he seems to just sit at the bottom in the corner, I currently have only one of the two tank lights on hoping to relax the fish.

What's a good floating type plant decoration to give him shaded areas in the tank?

Yuki Rihwa said:

All the tank mates are too big for it to eat but eventually it will get fed up and fight/beat (back) the crap out of that Jack
Cichlid don't mix well with wolf species though, planted tank is best for wolf but since you having cichlid so it harder to get it done.

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It'd weird too because the Jack seemed to get along with the other fish very well. But the OB peacock was always more aggressive and bothered the frontosa. Both the frontosa and OB peacock take turns being the aggressive or passive fish.

Maybe it's because the Jack was the biggest fish so they didn't mess with him and he didn't mess with them.

Should I be using sinking pellets for the wolf fish? I only have floating for the cichlids so might need to buy some.

IndyTexy said:

The Jack Dempsey will likely pick on your Rainbow Wolf... Keep an eye on that. The are not that aggressive toward other fish

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Hmm well maybe he'll be the first to go then. I'm pretty worried about them all being together, I have a 20 gallon basically empty right now but I don't think it's big enough for the jack even at his current size, I know once full size it would be too small.

You think the jack can stress him out enough to make him die? He doesn't seem to be doing much more but a nudge and maybe a tiny nibble on the tail fin, only saw that once. I think the wolf is getting more settled abd starting to stick up for himself.

The LFS said the wolf was traded in with a bass I think, so the wolf was with a bass in the same tank.

Should I get some type of medication in case he gets some bumps or cuts from the current situation? Also maybe since he hit his face on the tank once.

Yuki Rihwa said:

Feeding your wolf with those tank mates will be a challenge for sometimes until your wolf acclimated, your wolf most likely won't get anything unless you're over feeding other fishes first so it another thing to be concern
*Wolf not picking on food when its acclimated but as first quite hard to get it on pellets with fast eater fishes in the tank IMO.

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The day before I got the wolf I bought some feeder fish for a snack for them. The OB peacock was the most aggressive but could barely fit them in his mouth. I should have gotten red roseys. He still tried to eat them all, killed like 5 of them from biting half their body's since he couldn't swallow them.

The jack ate one feeder and didn't even chase them, frontosa I think had no interests and ate none.

So I saved the remaining feeders in my 20 gallon. Maybe I will throw some in. I don't think the wolf will go for them yet though, think he isn't settled enough yet.

Since I put him in seems like none of my fish are trying to eat like the pigs they used to be.