My dwarfs are the meanest ever!

[Glasstapper]

They are constantly chasing and fighting. They get side by side and do the body shake thing with their feelers touching each other, fins straight up and nipping at each other's fins. All evening they have been at it, just fighting and pooping. My tetras are looking confused as to where they can swim. I may have to intervene at some point soon.

See their agression for yourselves:

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sorry the video is so dark, but you can still see them fighting.

[Lady Hobbs]

Generally dwarfs aren't so crabby. Like my large gourami's they don't bother other fish but sure can distract them and cause them to remain in the corners out of the way. I noticed since I got rid of my gourami's yesterday, everything is moving about more and tetra's and silver dollars are skoaling again.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice some for the benefit of all.

[jeffs99dime]

They are constantly chasing and fighting. They get side by side and do the body shake thing with their feelers touching each other, fins straight up and nipping at each other's fins. All evening they have been at it, just fighting and pooping. My tetras are looking confused as to where they can swim. I may have to intervene at some point soon.

See their agression for yourselves:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]


sorry the video is so dark, but you can still see them fighting.

yeah. but they're so cool!

[kimmers318]

The 45 may just be too small for them to co-exist together, they both appear to be territorial males, and that does sometimes happen. My single dwarf is fine in my 64 with sparkling and a honey gourami, but it is understocked which may help. If I can ever find a new home for the pleco I rescued I will stock it fully, but I want to leave room for the pleco until I see just how big it will end up because it was malnourished when I got it and may have stunted growth.

[Glasstapper]

I'm thinking by this weekend, if this continues, I'll take one of them out. I'll be giving my lone cory a few friends anyway, so I guess it works out.

[Glasstapper]

dangit!! This is what I came home to today:

one super swollen bottom lip on one
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and the guy that had the lump? yeah, now it looks like a huge pimple and his dorsal fin is looking worse than ever
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and they're both wearing some pretty long string poop.

Tomorrow I will take the both of them back to the store. I will not get my money back, but at least the owner will be able to give them better care than I can. I don't want to freeze them because they are still eating and behaving as usual.

I've been researching their symptoms and it seems that dwarfs are known to get sick a lot. I guess I learned my lesson the hard way that some fishies are not for beginners.

[William]

Sorry to hear that but its a good leasson to learn. I am not sure from the pictures but the damages might be from a huge fight between them.

[Glasstapper]

Well, I had to take out the guy with the lump today. The lump had gotten even bigger and was looking very infected. It was one of the hardest things I had to do and I'm actually crying over it right now. I hope he just goes right to sleep in my freezer and his suffering will end. My hands kept shaking and he kept trying to get away.

I was looking up his symptoms over the internet, and it seems that he had a severe bacterial infection that gouramis almost never completely get over. If only I had known what to do sooner, then he wouldn't have had to meet this fate.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that again. :'(

[kimmers318]

It is hard to realize you made a mistake that could have been prevented, but I subscribe to the theory that NO mistake is bad if you learn something from it. We are all human, mistakes are part of our makeup, it is when you don't learn something from them that it is a bad thing. You have gained some very valuable information, and have a visual of what you dealt with. If you ever deal with it again (pray not) you will be able to lean on your past experience and have better luck next time. Don't knock yourself for it, accept that you made a mistake, and have what it takes to avoid it in the future.

[Lady Hobbs]

Kimmers, what a lovely well put post. You have earned a reputation point for that it was so well written.

Glasstopper, you have to put a fish down sometimes for the good of your tank. Altho it's not the nicest thing to do, you may be saving your entire stock from torment, stress and disease by doing so. I have put maybe 6 down but when I do, I don't think of it as destroying a fish but of saving the rest.
I do hope I never have to put one of my angels down, tho. As much of a pain as they are, they really are a beautiful fish. Also my most costly !!

It's too hard for me to come to gripes with buying a bunch of meds, stressing my other fish, and going nuts over a fish that cost me $1.95. LOL

[Glasstapper]

Thanks, guys. That makes me feel a lot better. I just felt so bad for the little guy.

On the upside, though, the other two gouramis actually seem to be more tolerant of each other. They still have their same territories, but there's the free side of the tank where they can retreat if they need to. I haven't seem them fight once yet, but still just a small amount of chasing, which I guess is normal play. and the guy with the swollen lip is getting better. Also, the tetras seem to be swimming around a bit more.