Breeding or just a Bully? Need advice asap!

[Snailygal]

Hello all,

This is the first forum I've ever joined, although I have read through this and many other fish forums often in my newbie-quest to learn all I can. Thank you all for helping to educate others and thereby provide a better home for our finned friends! Hoping you can help me today to decide the best course of action for my DPs!

My issue today is somewhat urgent, as I am very close to donating my male DP "Bindi" to my LFS out of sheer exasperation with his behavior. I'll sum up the problem first, and then I'll elaborate for those who want more back-story. He has been chasing the little female DP incessantly (when he finds her, he chases her until she loses him again. Over and over) She looks terrified and is forced to hide constantly, mostly in the floating plants. They are both eating and seem healthy, but the male is in hyper-drive, zipping all over the tank like a madman. I have been thinking this must just be mating behavior, but today he got hold of her with his mouth until she wrestled free. I immediately scooped him out of the tank and he is "on time out" in a container as I write this, until I can figure out what to do. I do not want two separate tanks for these two DP's (Tried that, see below) and have read that the 1:2 male:female ratio is better than 1:1, but it will be at least another week before my LFS has more DPs. So the question(s) is(are): Is this mating behavior and will it stop? WIll he hurt her trying to mate? (He is quite a bit larger than she, so she may not even be ready to breed yet. Or maybe she's actually a juvenile male! Oh the horrors!) Is the male just a psycho bully? I could get rid of him and take my chances with a couple of new DPs to keep with the female. Lots of questions, sorry, just not sure if I should re-home the male, keep them separate until I can get another DP (hoping it's a female but they're always so young when available.) I love them both but am afraid for her safety.

Here's the back story if anyone cares or wants more info:

When I first got him (about 6 months ago) he resided in a 10g with a very docile female Betta. Although things seemed fine between them, they seemed to like eachother, after reading many warnings about keeping them together, I purchased another tank and moved the Betta into it. Both Bindi and the Betta seemed forlorn in their own tanks, becoming much less active and hiding more. After a few weeks of this, I decided to reintroduce the Betta into the original tank to see if both fish cheered up, and they did! I thought all was well and happy.

Things were fine for another couple of months, until the Betta passed away from an illness (I think it was dropsy, but I'm not sure. No bite marks and she never seemed stressed so I'm fairly certain it was a disease and not DP-related) After she was gone and he was alone in the tank, Bindi the DP's personality changed again. He became very shy and tended to keep in a back corner of the tank, looking depressed. He ate well, and I waited to see if it was a temporary adjustment, but nothing changed after many weeks. I felt bad for him, thinking he is happier when there is another fish in his tank, so when I happened upon another tiny DP in the store, I bought her and put her in the tank with him. Understand that at this time I didn't know the new DP's gender as it was so young, but after the last couple of months, and especially in comparison with Bindi, she really looks like a female.

The two got along great until he started chasing her a few weeks back, so I took her out and made a home for her in a 5G. Bindi went back to his sulking, sad-in-a-corner behavior. The female was fine in her new tank but I grew tired of having yet another tank to deal with (I have several others) so last week I bit the bullet and upgraded Bindi's 10G to a 20G, with tons of plants and wood, and moved the female back in again hoping the doubled space would solve the chasing issue. Sigh. I'm at my wits' end.

Thanks for reading and I will post pix of all my tanks as soon as I get a chance (I love seeing others' tank pix!) Best wishes to you all!

Any and all help would be GREATLY appreciated as I have spent hours researching online and asking my LFS to no avail. SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO?

[Pufferpunk]

Can you post a pic of your tank? How large is it? It must be HEAVILY decorated, with many broken lines of sight.

[Boshia]

Have you thought about using a divider in the tank? That way both dp's will have 10g of space, Bindi won't be able to harrass the female and it's still only one tank to maintain. The mere presence of another puffer in the tank(even if he can't get to her) may keep him from hiding all the time. It may be something to try before you resort to giving him up.

[Snailygal]

Hi Pufferpunk and Boshia!

Thanks for your fast replies! I've been trying to upload a photo but "the file is too big" -tried to compress it but still not working. Don't know how to proceed with that...

The tank is a 20 gallon Tall with a piece of fake driftwood that spans the width and half the height of the tank, and has lots of hiding places within. There are many fake and real plants, planted and floating (Man, I wish I could upload the pic! Any help would be appreciated!)

Boshia I considered the divider, but have been told that it's use restricts water flow in tanks and thereby degrades water quality (not sure if this is true, but it did put me off of the idea.)

I did end up deciding to give Bindi up for adoption and brought him to my LFS last night. He had bitten a big chunk out of the female's back yesterday, and I didn't want to risk him injuring her again and any additional DPs that I put in there (I explained all of this to the store clerk, hope they pass on the info but unlikely.) I feel bad about it because I take my responsibilities with pets seriously, but am ill-equipped to cope with such an aggressive personality. I hope he finds a better home!

Chickpea (female) appears quite relieved now, no longer trapped in the floating plants and free at last to wander around the big tank. I would like to get at least 2 more DP's for this tank and am hoping that I get lucky and find females!

I really would love to get advice about whether my tank is set up to happily accommodate more DP's so if anyone can help me upload my photos I would be very grateful!

Many thanks!

[Snailygal]

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Hoping these pix work!

[Pufferpunk]

That certainly is well-decorated! I think you have a bully on your hands.

[Snailygal]

Phew! What a relief to hear you say that! As I have given the Bully up for adoption, do you think another 2-3 DP's would be happy in this tank or is that pushing it? I feed live blackworms and pond snails everyday (spoiled lil dudes!) And I'm a good housekeeper too! (Better with tanks than my own house! LOL!)

Thanks so much, Pufferpunk!

[pollypuff]

I would still be careful about adding 2 more DP's - personally I would add one and also move your tank decor around the day you do so your established fish is forced to stake out a new "territory". I'm having my own issues with an aggressive DP so I might be erring on the side of caution, I'm sure others keep 3 in a 20gal without issue (your tank is gorgeous btw )

If it helps, I used a tank divider with bettas for years in a 10 gallon and had no issues with water quality or water flow. It was just a cheap plastic one with small holes in it made by Pennplax I think?

[Pufferpunk]

Agreed--maybe try for all females?

[Snailygal]

Pollypuff, thanks for the advice! Can you explain what's going on with yours? I'm trying to learn as much as possible about DP behavior, and anecdotes from actual DP owners is the best source of info. Thank you!