How long do you think it takes to establish dominance?

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Im moving some fish around and closely watching them, so I started to wonder....

How long do you think it takes to establish who is the dominant one within a tank of all new fish?

I realize that there are many many factors like type of fish, tank size, fish size, etc. but lets just generalize from our experiences.

Any comments? Thoughts?

 

[BIGgourami]

with what fish?

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

ttt

 

[santoury]

With what fish?

Look at it this way...

FROM EXPERIENCE:

A tank of guppies: They are constantly bickering over dominant status. Never ends.
A tank of mollies: Takes a day or two.
A tank of ..... Get my drift? Could go on all day.

You are moving some fish, so obviously you know what fish you'll be moving around. That will help us answer your question better. (If I haven't already )

 

[santoury]

In other words

We have no clue where to start. FW? SW? Tiny? Monster? Cats? Cichlids? Breeders?

Even water temp and stuff in tank will affect this....

 

[AquataHolic420]

I think after switching the tank around, your fish will claim their preferred nook or cranny in the first day or 2. When i moved my glass knifefish tube (Glass chimneer) to a different spot, my NTT claimed it within the first day, and still doesnt want to give up the tube. WEIRD. Also In my convict breeder tank i could move around all the rocks and driftwood and a pair would match up in the first few days, and get ready to spawn. I guess it depends on the fish, but i think to establish dominance after moving around your tank it should only take a few days.

 

[bukster]

i def agree. like in some cichlid tanks dominance is almost instantanious, where in some catfish tanks it takes a little while