[vancat]

Hey all, anybody out there familiar with pencilfish?

I got 7 trifasciata last week, and they are in a 5 gallon quarantine tank. Besides 2 of them dying (unusual for me) the other thing that worries me is that they seem a little aggressive with each other. One or two of the larger ones are always chasing/headbutting the others. is this normal? or maybe it will subside when i get them into their permanent 72g community home? (i hope)

 

[JanS]

I've never kept them, but I have heard that some aggression is common. I bet it will help quite a bit when you get them into the bigger tank.

 

[Raul-7]

It will spread once they go into the 72g, they are just forging out territories. Do you know the male:female ratio? It's better to have 1 male : 2-3 females.

 

[niko]

Yes if those fish are cramped they will get territorial. A 5 gal tank is not a good place even for 2 of them. Move them as soon as you can.

--Nikolay

 

[vancat]

OK, thanks everyone!
I didn't want to put them into the big tank until I quarantined....but glad to know it's normal, even if I erred by cramping them. I had no idea they were territorial. I have 3 harrisoni also and they are very mellow.

The trifasciata have been q'ed for just over a week, you think that's enough? I did lose 3 of them. I don't know what's worse, if they had a disease, or if they were killed by one another...the bodies showed no sign of disease, and they seemed to be the skinnier, smaller ones. I have no idea of gender, but some are larger & fatter (those are the aggressive ones).

Any more thoughts are appreciated.

 

[JanS]

I personally try to Q them for at least 3 weeks, and that is especially important since you've lost some.

If they really start getting to bad with each other you could always try a tank divider to get the meeker ones away from the worst offenders.

 

[vancat]

actually, since there's only 4 left, they seem to be better. (might be 2 m & 2 f....( 2 seem to be larger & fatter)

I also threw in a bunch of plant trimmings for more hiding places....yes, i am going to keep q'ing them for another 2 wks since they appear to be calming down.