I know it isn't much help, but if you have somewhere else to put one of
the Herberts, try removing one of them, and see if the remaining one
calms down a little. Some male rainbows can be perfect bastards, and
I've never had anything work other than seperation. Adding more females
might give them more targets to chase around, but if they are committed,
the males will eventually wear the females down. I used to get this more
with G. incisus than with the Herberts.
Cheers, Andrew
Darcey Harding wrote:
> I have two /Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi/ males that have become
> pretty darn pugnacious lately. Despite their smaller size, these guys
> are constantly colored up, darting around, and are beating up several
> bigger rainbows on a disturbingly regular basis. One of their victims
> now has nasty bruises on both sides and I'm treating him separately
> for fungus.
>
> It's a heavily planted 125-gallon community tank. Rainbows, loaches,
> and an algae crew. I often see pairs of rainbows spawning, but it's
> usually out of sight and any eggs get eaten very quickly. Two questions:\
>
> 1) can I get some kind of cheaper, generic version of Maracyn
> (erythromycin?) Mardel charges an arm and a leg for it.
> 2) Can't they all just get along? Any suggestions for dealing with a
> bully fish appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
-- _________________________________________ Andrew Boyd Business Development Manager Daily Basis P/L Phone 02 6282 9797 or 02 4885 1357 Mobile 0412 641 074 Email andrew at dailybasis.com.au or andrew_db at bigpond.com _________________________________________