Fighting Parents

[benjohnson]

Hello

My pair of breeding red turks are coming along really well, currently have 100 or so babies on their back which will soon be removed for growing on .

The problem I have is that the two parents have started bickering recently , The male being the particular aggressor and keeps pushing the lady around the tank. As far as I can tell she isn't trying to eat them or doing anything obviously wrong .

I have a tank divider ( clear) which I have drilled some holes in big enough for the fry to get through , however whenever I put it in to split them up the fry dont seem to tag on that their are holes they can swim through to visit the other parent .....

Is there anything else I can do which would help chill him out ? Water and Temperature are spot on and like I say , the fry and parents are in really good health otherwise.

Any help much appreciated.

Ben :)

[Mulisha]

Are there any other fish in the tank?
What size tank?
Is the female got any damage from this fighting?
How often are w/c?
Is there a light on the tank?

Sorry about the questions just trying to find out what is sparking it... :P

All i can say is keep up on the w/c so if the female has got any marks or anything don't get affected..

I find if i leave lights over my tank to long they tend to fight a little.. :o

[benjohnson]

No Other fish in the tank ,
Water changes daily or at worst every other day .

They dont have any light on in the day , just normal day light ( before every body kicks off they get really good amount of light from it !!! ) , and then a single led "moon simulator" over night for the fry to find them.

The female doesnt appear to at the moment, although previously he has given her a bit of a tatty fin from nipping a little bit. She will retaliate from time to time and they lock noses, but most of the time she just lets him nudge her round the tank .

[samir]

you need to divide with egg crate or something similar.

[benjohnson]

I have actually got some of that in my shed. bonus !!!
How do you secure it to the walls of the tank ???

[Mulisha]

Suction caps or place a rock on either sides so it's stays standing up..

[samir]

posted in the wrong place :oops: :oops: :oops:

[benjohnson]

We'll let you off samir :-P

[benjohnson]

Has anyone got any more ideas as to what I can do to stop this ???!? I'd rather not seperate them if I can

[samir]

you will have to separate them, things will work out fine with the egg crate and the fry will happily roam from one side to the other. not separating them on the other hand could result in the female getting sick if its being constantly harrased.

[chris]

How old are the fry.
It might be easier to be brought up by the mother alone. :wink:

[Merrilyn]

The problem with fighting parents, is that sooner or later, one of them will take it into their silly heads that they should eat the fry to protect them from the other parent.

A divider works well, or if not then one parent will be well able to raise that many fry on their own.

[benjohnson]

Ok, I am going to make a divider out of egg crate this evening and split them up , will see how they get on .

Thanks all for the input