Female Dovii beating up male

[caribexr2]

Has anyone got any ideas, my female Dovii is beating up my male. Both are now areound 4" and they have the tank to themselves.

I have always had the aggression the other way round in fish and my only idea was to put another fish in the tank in the hope that she will focus her attacks on that instead.

I am only using a 4 foot tank at the moment and dont want something huge in there while the wolfs are still small.

I would separate the female but would rather not and the divider wont work as they are both the same size so cant have a hole cut in it.

I used to have a FH, jag and texas in with them and since I have removed them the problems have started!!!!

 

[caribexr2]

Going to put the female in a small holding tank as the wounds on the male are looking bad, dont want to take the male out the bigger tank as the female IMO will just become more established.

OPinions?

 

[surfpalmsncycads]

even at a small size the female might be ready and wanting to breed. seperating them is deff the right move for now until the male heals up but if the male is still not ready to breed the same thing is going to happen. keep them seperated and let the male grow up a lil bit. at least let him heal up. he will feel like its his tank too. when you reintroduce the female he should keep her in check. keep us posted n good luck

 

[caribexr2]

They are now split. 50% water change on the 4 foot tank with the male on his own, and re shuffled the whole tank to change it around.

Just set up a small 25g tank for the female on her own and just used an old filter with a sponge from the external that was running on the 4 foot tank so fully cycled already.

Hopefully he is ok. He is pottering about the tank now and the female looks miserable.

Think its worth treating the tank with melafix or something for the male. The wounds are not bad, just missing scales and some damage around the lips.

 

[caribexr2]

Just bought some mollies to go in the tank with him. They are too big to eat for now so is leaving them alone but he is hiding under a plant pot just now. So this may get him out and feeding as they are picking at his pellets.

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

Ok bro scratch the dither, place a divider in the tank with no holes cut. that way they can see each other. this will do a few things to benefit from. first they wont be able to touch or hurt each other but at the same time see eachother giving them both a feeling of security and confidence. and that will create competition between them. they will both eat and color up very nicely. the divider will also help them determine which terrirtory is theirs and which is the others so when you pull the divider in a couple weeks or a month they will have respect right away although that may change but it works for the time being. also this will give your male time to outgrow the female a lil bit and gain confidence while in the same tank with her. Trust me on this one, i Know Dovii pretty well and if you do this depending on how long it takes the male to grow it wont take you long to get them paired. also feed the both really good but feed the male better, try high protien foods for the month but no more than twice a day. and keep up on the water changes and in no time you will have them paired and spawning

 

[Freshwaterpredators]

They are now split. 50% water change on the 4 foot tank with the male on his own, and re shuffled the whole tank to change it around.

Just set up a small 25g tank for the female on her own and just used an old filter with a sponge from the external that was running on the 4 foot tank so fully cycled already.

Hopefully he is ok. He is pottering about the tank now and the female looks miserable.

Think its worth treating the tank with melafix or something for the male. The wounds are not bad, just missing scales and some damage around the lips.

hey bro just use salt and by doing like i just recommended they will both cheer up immediately

 

[caribexr2]

No where in a 100 mile radius had any egg crate so found this stuff at an aquatics shop and just trimmed it to fit. Just black plastic clip together racks.

Yes its badly cut but my jigsaw motor is burnt out so had to do it with a VERY blunt saw. But its secured at the top and at the bottom and wont go anywhere in a hurry. They can still see each other but definitely cant touch.