Have I got a bully?

[fishman256]

Hello,

One of my SD's has started to bully the two other larger fish in the group and I am concerened that he/she may have to be removed. I will leave the lights off tomorrow to see if the behaviour changes.

Like most shoaling fish, I expect fight from time to time.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[DMD123]

If you have room, try to increase the size of the school to at least 5. This will probably help spread out the aggression so that the school will get along better.

 

[fishman256]

I have a 32 gal with 3x5" & 1x2" sd's. I will have a think and see if I can add more. I may look to buying larger one rather than raising small ones.

 

[PayaraMan]

I have a school of 6 with fish that can defend themselves like a Red Texas and my American Datnoid, Also I would suggest a larger tank to decrease aggression since they will have more room to take their own territory in the tank. Silver Dollars can be peaceful one day and very aggressive the next but what comes into play is if the aggression passes or not since they are notorious for having short tempers in large schools. Also what are the two larger fish they are picking on?

 

[fishman256]

I have a school of 6 with fish that can defend themselves like a Red Texas and my American Datnoid, Also I would suggest a larger tank to decrease aggression since they will have more room to take their own territory in the tank. Silver Dollars can be peaceful one day and very aggressive the next but what comes into play is if the aggression passes or not since they are notorious for having short tempers in large schools. Also what are the two larger fish they are picking on?

All I have in the tank are silver dollars.

 

[fishman256]

I have a school of 6 with fish that can defend themselves like a Red Texas and my American Datnoid, Also I would suggest a larger tank to decrease aggression since they will have more room to take their own territory in the tank. Silver Dollars can be peaceful one day and very aggressive the next but what comes into play is if the aggression passes or not since they are notorious for having short tempers in large schools. Also what are the two larger fish they are picking on?

All I have in the tank are silver dollars.

 

[PayaraMan]

All I have in the tank are silver dollars.

Oh then it should be completely normal, Aggression within the school is very very common with Silver Dollars. On rare occasions the alpha of the school (The Largest One) will kill the weakest one but it's very rare. Don't worry it should pass it's natural for them to pick on each other.

 

[fishman256]

Thank you far the info. he fish that has been doing the chasing is smaller than the one's being chased lol.

 

[PayaraMan]

Thank you far the info. he fish that has been doing the chasing is smaller than the one's being chased lol.

Oh then you just have one of those little ones attitude Anyways update us if it does not change.

 

[DMD123]

I have a 32 gal with 3x5" & 1x2" sd's. I will have a think and see if I can add more. I may look to buying larger one rather than raising small ones.

A larger tank would help a lot! Your tank is probably only 30-36" in length and 10-12" wide. Not a whole lot of space for this type of fish. A 55g would be a nice upgrade with a 48" length. But these guys really need some more swimming room.