Pike nipping and bullying

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LuluB916

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Aug 25, 2013
217
7
33
United States
I have a marmorata that I got about a month ago. It's currently in my 125g with a peacock bass, dats, silver dollars and clown loach. The Marmorata appears to constantly chase the bass and nipping at it. There is no real damage yet just the bass tail getting a little nipped.
Marmorata is about 4 inch and bass around 5. I can't move my bass yet to my grow out tank yet since I believe it will end up as a feeder to my aro and other pbasses.
The bass doesn't fight back and the marmorata doesn't attack the loaches and dats. It's my first pike, and I know that pikes usually tend to be aggressive toward other cichlids, pikes or torpedo shaped fish.

Anyway to make it stop? There is currently no cover or places to hide since I took them out. My dats would be hiding too much. I don't want a divider and I wonder if it will get worst.
Thinking about getting some drift wood log or floating plastic plants. Any idea guys?


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He is doing it because they look similar. Some lugubris type pikes are very territorial especially to similar looking fish, or conspecifics. I keep lugubris pikes with peaceful geophagus and severums with no aggression. It may get better, but it probably will not. Marmorata are known to be on more of the aggressive side. You could try adding some silver dollars as target fish

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With pikes, when they hate a fish, they don't stop. Watch carefully, because if the marm starts to grab hold of the tail and not let go for a couple of seconds, it's only a matter of time before it kills the bass.
 
Hmmm I'd probably add more bass so it spreads the aggression because the pike isn't gonna go after other dithers like sds. Or a big fish that neutralizes the pike like a peacekeeper. My peacekeeper with my cinctas was a large goldfish and now is a brook trout whenever there's a fight it comes over and chases one of them but keeps to itself 95% of the time. The goldfish would go over and nibble on everyone and the pikes would stop. No one nipped the big goldfish he was just too big lol


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