# OB peacock bully



## N&amp;GA (Apr 9, 2013)

I have a question about our super aggressive OB peacock. For the first month or so that we had him he got along fine with his tank mates but recently he's been harassing everyone. We added 6 new fish last weekend, 2 of which were bigger than him so we thought that would keep him under control, but within half an hour he had every fish in the tank corralled and cowering on one side of the tank. We ended up separating him into a breeder net/tank but still with the other fish and any time someone swims by he's trying to attack them. How long should we keep him separated? Or is it even going to help by having him separated?


----------



## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

I've not had any luck separating our overly aggressive OB, he's gone even 2 months in his own 20 gallon and within a day or two of being back in the main tank had everyone in the corners. They seem to be very hit or miss.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I have never found time-out to work. If you want to try it anyway I'd put him in a separate tank for a month or two.

Size may not matter with aggression. What are his tank mates and what were the new fish? Dimensions of the tank?


----------



## N&amp;GA (Apr 9, 2013)

Tank is 185x45x48 cm

Tank mates are:
Blank calvus
Kandango
Eureka red (posted this one on the ID page, not really sure yet)
1, possibly 2 Sulpher heads, one of these is larger than the OB, the other is also on the ID page
A hybrid we were told is a red shoulder (also on the ID page)
Tropheus moori Bemba
Albino peacock
Taiwan reef
Dragon blood
Red peacock (from an assorted tank)
Yellow peacock (from an assorted tank)
Pseudotropheus polit
Another unknown on the ID page
Synodontis multipuncata


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd expect him to go after the calvus, sulphur heads, the albino and possibly the red and yellow peacocks.


----------



## N&amp;GA (Apr 9, 2013)

He actually doesn't bother the calvus at all which surprised me, he pretty much chases everyone but the tropheus and pseudotropheus. The new sulpher head was beautiful when we got him but now his dorsal fin has tons of splits


----------



## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Likely you added a female thus the sudden change in temperament. You have some very aggressive peacocks. You need to remove the female.


----------



## N&amp;GA (Apr 9, 2013)

I'm not entirely sure if there is a female, we were going for all male but bought a bunch as juveniles so we can't really tell yet. I do suspect 3 of them may be female but from the response I got on the ID page they're too young to tell just yet. I'm going to try and get some better pictures and post though


----------



## SmellinFishy (Mar 17, 2013)

I have had fish like that before, isolation never helped. I ended up just trading him in. After that he got into a new tank and was fine with lots of tank mates!


----------



## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

N&GA said:


> I'm not entirely sure if there is a female, we were going for all male but bought a bunch as juveniles so we can't really tell yet. I do suspect 3 of them may be female but from the response I got on the ID page they're too young to tell just yet. I'm going to try and get some better pictures and post though


OK....I see the other thread and responded in it. You may very well have a female or two in that mix. It really is hard to tell because they are not colored. That is the problem with throwing in a bunch of unsexed fish in a all male tank especially with very aggressive peacocks. You have some very aggressive peacocks in that mix.

There are two things you can do:

Remove the new fish you just bought to another tank and see if that works or remove what you suspect are females. I can tell you just looking at those fish it is impossible to tell by looking at them which are male/female. They are still too young and you really need to wait and see if they color or vent.

Remove the aggressor to another tank for a minimum of 6 weeks. Removing for a day or two or to a net will do absolutely nothing to help the situation.


----------



## N&amp;GA (Apr 9, 2013)

The uncoloured ones were actually with him in the beginning. The new ones I'm almost positive are males unless they were hormoned, they all have bright colors and blue faces.

Thanks for the suggestions, I might just end up trading the OB so he doesn't end up killing everything else. Everyone is getting along great for now with him out of the mix.


----------



## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

N&GA said:


> The uncoloured ones were actually with him in the beginning. The new ones I'm almost positive are males unless they were hormoned, they all have bright colors and blue faces.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions, I might just end up trading the OB so he doesn't end up killing everything else. Everyone is getting along great for now with him out of the mix.


Sounds like a plan.


----------



## Chester B (Dec 28, 2012)

Removing the fish is the easiest, let's hope another doesn't rise up to take his place.

There is one other option that can work. You could add in a few more adult fish all at once and rearrange the tank at the same time. This has worked for me int the past. More targets and less real estate per fish can sometimes calm an aggressive fish down. I recently did this with a young Nimbochromis fuscotaeniatus that was claiming half the tank and beating up on much larger fish. I added in 5 fish that were larger than him and now he's completely under control and no longer defends a territory.


----------



## N&amp;GA (Apr 9, 2013)

I rearranged the tank yesterday and let the OB out to give him one last chance, he had been in a breeding tank for 5 days. When he first got out he was starting to fight with the other fish but then one of the bigger new fish stood up to him. Seems like he's been put in his place for now, his colours are definitely less bright and he hasn't been starting any more fights. Fingers crossed that it stays this way because I really would like to keep him, he's a beautiful fish.


----------



## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

It may, or it may not, heirarchy changes especially while fish are maturing at different times. 16 of the 18 males I had in my 125 took control of the tank at different times, they're currently waiting to move to a 180 with a few additional males where my OB will get one last chance as well.


----------

