# Effectiveness/need for "grow out" tank?



## mtayl675 (Jan 1, 2013)

I recently added 4 new fish to my 120 gallon all male peacock/hap tank. These were each about 2 inches in length. The fish already in the tank were closer to 3-5 inches. All seem to be adjusting nicely with very little aggression.

That said, three of the four new fish are thriving...swimming around freely and feeding well. The fourth is pretty secluded and not showing much interest in food. Two weeks in now I am concerned this fish will not make it.

Should I pull him out and put him in my separate 10 gallon and try to feed him/ let him grow a bit? Or is it better to leave him and let him deal with it? He doesn't seem to be chased or harassed, just looks stressed.

Thanks


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Might be sick....What kind of fish ?

If he has parasites, I always treat the whole tank.

Personally, I will leave him there. If he has parasites, the other fish have been exposed, thus I treat the whole tank.

You can raise the temperature a bit to 80 to speed up metabolism and get him hungry faster.

I suspect he is sick as he is not being harassed by other occupants.


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## mtayl675 (Jan 1, 2013)

He's a lethrinops "red cap". Again, smaller than most in the tank. If he's sick, he would have had to have arrived that way, and was shipped in the same bag as the other three that are doing well. I guess I'm trying to decide which way would be more or less stressful:

Catch him, put him in an isolated tank for a while

Or leave him in there and let him hide


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I would remove him to a cycled 10G tank and monitor him. It's possible he is stressed and moving him to a separate tank will allow him to get enough food and should reduce the stress.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Just wanna share a recent experience with one of my Azureus cichlid...

When I got him, I homed him in a 125 gallon tank with Fronts, Blue Regal, Zimbabwe rock. This tank is a 'calm' tank void of any chasing. Perfect tank for an Azureus's calm disposition.

Like you, he refused to eat...instead watch the freezing frenzy.

A week past by, he still refused to eat.

I called a friend to ask for an advice.

He told me that perhaps he did not know me and he refused to eat as he got nervous when I was around.

So I did the feed and hide approach. As soon as I dumped the food, I walked away from the tank. But will watch him from the distance.

Sure enough...as soon as he thought I was gone, he joined the feeding frenzy. A few days later, when he got used to me...he started eating.


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## Heyguy74 (Aug 11, 2005)

Lethrinops are not tough fish. They tend to be easily bullied by other haps and peacocks. I have seen them get beat up in an all male tanks, many times. They tend to be a silver fish unless they are the boss of the tank. I would nurse him back to health and get rid of him. If you want to keep him ( and I would because they are a really nice fish when colored up), then give him his own tank with a few females. You'll wont regret it.


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## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

Heyguy74 said:


> Lethrinops are not tough fish. They tend to be easily bullied by other haps and peacocks.


Very True.

In my experience, when seeing a straggler in an all male setup, it is all too often only a matter of time before they get the best of him.

I would remove him as soon as possible, and as suggested, rehome him or give him his own tank with some females.

Seldom have I hesitated to pull a weak fish, and then found him doing just fine in a couple of weeks. Normally the opposite is true.


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