skittish flagtail

[shern]

You can ad fish that might calm him, like metynnis, but there is no guarantee. Adding fish to solve fish problems often gives you new fish problems.

I personally am sick of Flagtails, so there is a clear bias in my opinion.

thanks for being honest bout the bias, could i ask why you are sick of them? aka any issues i should know or niches about flags

 

[Joshuakahan]

I would remove those sharp branches until you figure out and stop the skittishness.

 

[Trouser Cough]

In my experience Flagtails are best kept singularly as they're intraspecies aggressive. They also are inclined to chase other fish in a playful way and the only thing quicker in any tank might be a lightning bolt. Over time other fish in the tank that outgrow the Flagtail will eventually take a serious crack at killing it. I have one now that's been in a grow out tank w/ some peacock bass for a few months. Those bass are now about 10" long and I'd bet a nickel that w/in the next couple inches of growth one of them is going to decide he's had enough of the Flagtail's crap. I'm 100% certain the Flagtail isn't chasing other (smaller) fish to be aggressive but that's apparently not the way it comes across to any of them that have been chased.

Shame too. They're crazy good at keeping algae out of a tank. I had one in an 800 and that tank was always spotless. Not anymore.

 

[Ansorgii]

thanks for being honest bout the bias, could i ask why you are sick of them? aka any issues i should know or niches about flags

I once kept 8 and they kept bullying the weakest link to death (I removed them when possible) until I was left with 2 that went for each other.

And all their fighting really stired up the tank. Not fun.