Has anyone ever put a fish in 'time out'?

[gabbyguppy]

For the past several months I've had issues with an aggressive male Platy. He terrorizes the other males in my tank.

Most of the time the subordinate male stays hid, but when he comes out of his hiding place it's a constant chase.

Earlier this week I decided I'd had enough of the bully. I had planned to catch him and kill him, but once I had him in the net I just couldn't do away with him.

I decided to leave him trapped in the net for a full 24 hours, hoping that this 'time out' would help with his aggression. When I released him back in the tank, his whole attitude had changed.

He's been swimming happily with the two other Platies and has not shown the slightest aggression since being released.

Attaching before and after pics

Has anyone else ever put a fish in time out with good results?

[hideandseek]

Yea, I've done that with mollies before, never for 24 hrs more like 10 mins but it actually does seem to work.

Nice platies btw, what kind?

[wolf_eyes]

I would put my female betta in time out which consisted of a breeder's net when she was being to aggressive to my rasboras. She would calm down for a few days usually. About a week later though i would catch her at it again though.

I think in this case the male was probably so freaked out by the experience that he probably went to the other fish for comfort since platies are still schoolers. I wonder if he will stay like that permanently or if he will go back to his old ways again after he feels safe again

[gabbyguppy]

Yea, I've done that with mollies before, never for 24 hrs more like 10 mins but it actually does seem to work.

Nice platies btw, what kind?

I have no clue. I was told by my LFS that they were Peppermint Platies. I've yet to find any info on such a color variety.

I like them because their colors are rich and they stand out so well in the tank, but I can't stand the constant bickering. I'm hopeful the 'time out' takes care of the issue.

It's been two days since I netted the bad boy and he's still being good.

[thatcichlidguy]

Many times have I had to put some offender in lock up. Dealing with cichlids makes this sort of thing a common occurance in my tanks. I have one fish that I have to Jail almost every time I introduce someone new to the tank. That and rearange things a bit to break up territories to level the playing field for the new guy.

[MrDrums]

Had that problem with my sev when I first got him. I took him out, rearranged the tank, then put him back, and the problem was solved. He is still the unquestioned boss of the tank, but no severe aggression toward his tankmates.

[Sharon]

I've done a time out with a Red Zebra. I kept him in a naughty tank for two weeks. He was great when I put him back, but reverted to earlier behavior. I eventually rehomed him...

[Jaster]

I've done that a few times with a few of my fish. I'll put them in a breeder box for an hour. It does seem to do the job. lol Now when I put the breeder in the tank everyone scatters... lmao
Some times I wish I do that with my kids... the fish listen better then they do... :hmm3grin2orange:

[domjd05]

I've had to do this with discus, I made the mistake of adding a new guy into an already established tank, which he quickly dominated... I put him in a specimen container for a few hours (it had slats for the water to go in and out) and it seemed to work, he was significantly less aggressive

[Northernguy]

I have that problem with my oscars.My albino beats up on the other.He is always pushing him into a corner. I have a 3ft peice of 1/2" dowel I use to push the albino over to the center.Now I just place the stick in the tank and walk away.They seem to calm down and go back to trying to push rocks around.They even work together to move one of the rocks.Its too big to push into the glass! lolIt just rolls an inch and they are happy.:hmm3grin2orange:

[Lady Hobbs]

That works with children who's brain is learning the different of right from wrong. This does not work with fish who only have instinct to live by.

[Northernguy]

That works with children who's brain is learning the different of right from wrong. This does not work with fish who only have instinct to live by.
I don't hit them with it!
I just push it gently.All they have to do is see the stick in the tank now and they leave each other alone.Sure beats watching them attack each other!

[wolf_eyes]

We may jokingly call it time out but in reality the object we use (breeder box, stick etc) are seen as a potential predator and so the fish give up their aggression towards one another to group together in safety. They may not be learning right from wrong but it is a way to modify their behavior to be more what we desire it to be.

[NanoTankGuy]

I split three of my TBs - 2 and 1, cuz one of them was beating the $|-|!T out of the other two. Their fins were all ripped and they were hiding ALL the time. So I put them into two different tanks and guess what - their fins healed (I added stress coat and stuff) and the battered duo chase each other once in a while, but no serious stress.
IMHO, I don't think short-term time-out will help, it'll only stress the aggressor and upon returning him ot the tank it'll be just the same as before. It's better to solve aggression problems by changing #s of fish you have,i.e. add more females, etc.

[red eyes]

i put a powder blow gourami in with a male betta for one hour and he was nice for about 1 week and is back to being a complete %$^&*%$

[Mith]

If you have a quarentine tank....put the offending fish into it, then tape a bag of fish fry batter to the side of the tank. Trust me, it works!

[thezookeeper]

Hey Mith, does it matter what kind of batter you use?:hmm3grin2orange: I have 2 kissing gouramies and one would chase the other into a corner at feeding time. I put a divider in until they were both about the same size and it still happens, just not as much and the smaller one now fights back a little.

[gabbyguppy]

<It's better to solve aggression problems by changing #s of fish you have,i.e. add more females, etc.>

I've thought about doing that.......but we're going on 4 days and so far all is well.

Should I decide to add more Platies, could it be more males? Or would adding more males likely increase the aggression? I don't have a coed community as I don't want to deal with the fry.

Karen

[jman]

yeeaahh i always keep a spare tank mainly because when i deal with freshwater fish they are aggressive and you know what that leads to:help:

[Oscar_freak12321]

My pacu continued to bully my oscar and eat/terrorize other fish in the tank, so into the 30 gallon he went. In a matter of fact, he's still there. I'd put him back in, but now all of the fish have grown too big to put in another big fish, I'd have to raise the fish from a small size if it was going in the 55. He has calmed down a lot since I put him in "timeout."