DP Vs other fish

[J-P]

I just read a reply that a DP killed several other fish in a "community" tank. (not on this forum)

I find this hard to beleive. Can it happen? At most I thought they were fin nippers.

[Pufferpunk]

I don't see why hey couldn't gang up on a fish & nip it to death.

[Nick]

One time the petco near me did the "oh crap we're out of betta cups, lets dump one in each tank" thing. They put one in the DP tank. It was horrible. At any given time, 4-12 DPs surrounded the thing, STARING at it. Every 30 seconds or so, one dove in and took a bite. It was almost like piranha operating in super slow motion. The betta could not attempt escape, it was a 3/4 circle of DPs pinning it in the corner, hovering closer then further away with their hummingbird maneuverability. Needless to say I had it moved.

I'd guess in the wild, if something big(but too small to eat them) is invading everyone's territory, everyone comes out and the little nips begin to build up even on somewhat larger fish. In the wild there are no corners, so unless it pissed off and awful lot of DPs it would get away with only a few fin nips. This is just speculation, the DP killer bee swarm might be a captive tank only phenomena.

[J-P]

the poster said it was a "single" DP that wiped out a tank. My first thought was "yea right!"... next...

I can't imagine a single little 3/4" DP taking out other. And definately not multiples of ..

for me it is beyond imagination

[wayno3579]

Newbie comment time

I've just introduced 7 DP's into my community tank and am currently getting the opposite effect.
The red phantom tetras are bossing the DPs around, especially at dinner time. Nipping the DP's tails and chasing them away. Plenty of hiding spots though so not quite serious enough to "expend" the tetras...

In some ways I hope the "one DP killed my community" is true because I'm already attached to the DPs and want to change the make-up of my community.
And the red phantoms are very expendable but hard to catch....LIVE FOOD - bring it on!!

[Nick]

I would have agreed with the "couldn't happen" opinion before what happened in my DP tank. One died for no clear cause(He was always a runt, but the others always treated him like a pre-adolescent DP for that reason, tolerating him in their territory) I suspect he was never totally well. However, that created a breakdown of tank order. Marilyn and Pig, the two top puffers, had at it one night while I was sleeping. They were a boy and a girl, but Marilyn was TOP girl - had her own territory and didn't take any chasing from males. Huge, round, female shape, no eye wrinkles, but a BIG belly line, loudly saying "I'm #!"

Her and Pig HAD AT IT. They were both maimed, and Pig did not outlive Marilyn by very long. I've tried to damage puffer skin(postmortem dissections). It's about 5X harder to cut than a normal fish's skin, even on a DP. The only things that seem to work are HUGE razor pointy teeth, swallowing whole if you're big enough that puffing doesn't work, or another puffers beak. Fresh surgical scalpels can't get through it easily.

So, having seen what persistent attacks with a DPs beak will do to another DP, I honestly believe that with enough persistence, they can gut anything under 4", and possibly some things bigger, if trapped together with the puffer.

[J-P]

wayno3579

welcome to the forum! You're going to find lots of usefull info here! and congrats on the purchase