# Female gresheki w/nipped tail, breeders net ok to seclude?



## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

I have a grow out 20gallon with about 50 fry. Would it be ok to transfer the female into the grow out tank, and keep her in a breeders net until her tail grows back?


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

u could try it i guess....how bad is it?.....if its not too bad it should heal up in no time in the main tank....putting her in the fry tank i think ud risk ure getting out of the net or killing fry through the net?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Since the best thing you can do for healing an injured fish is provide pristine water conditions, a fry tank (especially one with 50 fry  ) might not be the best place to do that.

Not to mention the food and waste that get trapped inside the breeder net...

I would do frequent water changes on the main tank and add Melafix to minimize your risk for infection. :thumb:


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> Since the best thing you can do for healing an injured fish is provide pristine water conditions, a fry tank (especially one with 50 fry  ) might not be the best place to do that.
> 
> Not to mention the food and waste that get trapped inside the breeder net...
> 
> I would do frequent water changes on the main tank and add Melafix to minimize your risk for infection. :thumb:


By the end of the night, the gresheki gave up. He was getting nipped without even bothering to get away. I thought if I left him like this overnight, he was for sure a goner. I secluded him into the breeders net. I'll be keeping a close eye on the little guy.

PS: It's actually a male, not a female.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

aww poor guy....my big female zebra is bullying the slightly smaller male too...hope it doesnt end up like that ...he needs to stand up to her and show her whos boss


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

BRANT13 said:


> aww poor guy....my big female zebra is bullying the slightly smaller male too...hope it doesnt end up like that ...*he needs to stand up to her and show her whos boss*


lol, thats right!


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

What's your full stock list?

What size tank?

If you have more than one male greshakei, you may not be able to reintroduce this one. It might be best to find him another home, before you have a repeat scenario that could end in death the next time.


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> What's your full stock list?
> 
> What size tank?
> 
> If you have more than one male greshakei, you may not be able to reintroduce this one. It might be best to find him another home, before you have a repeat scenario that could end in death the next time.


Thats exactly the problem. I have one dominate male that I meant to get females for. I bought 4 juveniles that I thought were females, 2 of which turned out to be males. All was fine for months, but now as the juveniles are getting bigger, my dominate male has turned extremely aggressive even towards one of the females.

I have a 55 gallon, stock list as follows:

4 perl mutts (2 males, 2 juvenile females *i hope both are females*) reason for 2 males, was also a mistake, subdominate male took on female coloration. 
4 zebras (blue and reds, 1 male 3 females
5 albino greshekis 3 males 2 females due to the mistake 
3 white top haras, that i just bought. still juveniles and hard to tell if any are females.

I bought the white tops to substitute the zebras, but have not done so yet.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You're going to need to find a new home for one of your greshakei males.

I might seriously consider getting rid of the one with all the attitude rather than the subdominant. That's a pretty aggressive mix you've got there, and you may need all the help you can get until you get your stocking sorted out.


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> You're going to need to find a new home for one of your greshakei males.
> 
> I might seriously consider getting rid of the one with all the attitude rather than the subdominant. That's a pretty aggressive mix you've got there, and you may need all the help you can get until you get your stocking sorted out.


I really don't want to get rid of the dominate male. He's my favorite fish! I'm planning on building the albino colony around him.

Would it be ok to trade in the two subdominate males for 2 more females?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

That would be fine, but if your dominant male is hyper aggressive, you may wish you'd done otherwise later on! Your subdominant males are probably just as nice looking, they just can't colour up properly with the dominant one around.


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> That would be fine, but if your dominant male is hyper aggressive, you may wish you'd done otherwise later on! Your subdominant males are probably just as nice looking, they just can't colour up properly with the dominant one around.


I'm a little confused. Does this mean once a dominate male becomes "hyper aggressive" he has to be transfered out of the aquarium?

I was under the impression that as long the male-female ratio is correct, there shouldn't be problems.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

No, it doesn't mean you have to remove him.

I only made the suggestion because I've had dominant male greshakei get very out of control in smaller tanks like this, and you might find a "nicer" personality in one of the subdoms! For instance, while one male might require 6 females to keep him under control, another might be content with 3...

See what I mean?

This one _might_ be more of a challenge to keep long term, but, on the other hand, he _might_ be a pussycat when you remove the other males...


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> No, it doesn't mean you have to remove him.
> 
> I only made the suggestion because I've had dominant male greshakei get very out of control in smaller tanks like this, and you might find a "nicer" personality in one of the subdoms! For instance, while one male might require 6 females to keep him under control, another might be content with 3...
> 
> ...


Makes perfect sense! I'll keep a close watch and if his aggression does not subside, I will remove him.


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## Brandrcm (Feb 25, 2008)

My greshakei beat up on another fish while I was traveling a weekend. When I found the fish it was unable to control its balance and was going belly up. I isolated him in a breeding net in the same tank and did a large water change and added melafix since two others were slightly beat up. I don't have expansion room or a hospital tank set up at this time.

After two days in the net he came back to life some and looked much better and I released him. Its been almost two weeks now and he is starting to grow back his fins and looks great. I have added four female greshakei to my tank, which almost instantly changed the attitude of my dominant male. I unfortunately may have one juvenile male in the bunch which I will have to take back if he is a male.

The breeding net worked for me, hope you have good luck with it.


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

Brandrcm said:


> My greshakei beat up on another fish while I was traveling a weekend. When I found the fish it was unable to control its balance and was going belly up. I isolated him in a breeding net in the same tank and did a large water change and added melafix since two others were slightly beat up. I don't have expansion room or a hospital tank set up at this time.
> 
> After two days in the net he came back to life some and looked much better and I released him. Its been almost two weeks now and he is starting to grow back his fins and looks great. I have added four female greshakei to my tank, which almost instantly changed the attitude of my dominant male. I unfortunately may have one juvenile male in the bunch which I will have to take back if he is a male.
> 
> The breeding net worked for me, hope you have good luck with it.


Thank you for sharing your story. It seems we have a similar problem. My beat up juvenile male was also at a point where he could hardly swim and keep balance. Two days after isolating him into the breeders net, he is now swimming and eating again. Hopefully I will have the same turn around in aggression after acquiring more females.


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

People should keep in mind that a 15 gallon rubbermaid tub, an airstone, and a heater if necessary makes a $10-20 hospital tank... just add substrate from existing tank, and monitor the levels closely. If you have an extra HOB, obviously that would be better, but I kept a 4" borleyi in a set up like this for 2 weeks with no problems.


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