Aggressive Fish

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I imagine you have arrived at this page for one of two reasons.

The first is that you have an aggressive fish in your tank that is causing trouble for the other inhabitants.

The second is that you are interested in purchasing an aggressive fish for the entertaining experience it can provide when feeding.

Both of these scenarios are expanded below.

If one of your fish is too aggressive please consider these points.

- Let me first explain the Fish Hierarchy. Every tank of community fishes has a fish hierarchy – and it is actually very important that you have a fish to fill the dominant role. If there is a good ‘boss’ in your tank, they will keep all of the other inhabitants in line.

If this fish becomes too bossy, it may start harming the other fish. This is not acceptable. If this situation you can either remove the dangerous fish – or introduce a more dominant fish in the hope that it may be a better boss.

If the boss fish is too wimpy, the other inhabitants will continually challenge its power and injuries to both fish may occur.

A good boss will break up any other fights in the tank and keep the hierarchy in order. This order runs down a chain of command all the way to the poor little fish who is constantly looking over its shoulder.

- Several complexities arise in this topic as there are many variables. Some fish will fight only those from the same species. If you are only housing a few of the same species, housing more can turn them into a school mentality and reduce aggression. Some species only like their own kind and will attack other species. You need to do specific research into the breeds that attract you.

- Some fish become aggressive when defending their territory. If you have breeding fish, they may step up their defensive efforts of their turf and become aggressive if others come too close. If your tank is large enough for the level of fish you are carrying, this isn’t often a problem.

- If your fish have established territories, and you are introducing new fish to the aquarium, it is a good time to move around your aquascaping. Shuffle some rocks, move some decorations… so the existing fish are more worried about finding a new territory, than terrorizing the new inhabitants.

- Some fish enjoy a variety of foods. If you overfeed protein rich fish food your fish may be more aggressive than when you feed them more herbivorous foods.

- If you are already keeping fish, and you want to add additional inhabitants, take a list of the current fish in your tank to a fish expert and ask an experienced attendant if your new choice would likely be compatible.

- If you are yet to add any fish to your tank – create a list of the fish you like to keep. Walk through fish stores, look at reference information, and look in other aquariums… Then, work with an experienced fish keeper to design a ‘community list’ that will most likely give you a balanced habitat.

* Keep in mind, fish have individual characters. They may not always act according to the suggested behavior of the entire species.

AquariumFish.net have compiled a great guide of groups of fish that have proven to live well together.

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Alternatively, if you want to keep an aggressive fish you must also consider the environment in which you will house them. Fish eating other fish to survive is a natural process, and many fish keepers like to watch these feeding habits as it can be when your fish are most active.

Purposefully keeping fish that are fighting is cruel. Never continue to house aggressive fish of similar size, strength or fighting ability if they are showing signs of aggression towards each other. Move some to another tank – or return them to the fish store and enquire about an exchange.

Having access to a good reference directory is important. Some breeds that are categorized in the aggressive category are; the Red Belly Piranha (the most famous aggressive fish that can be tank housed. Watch your fingertips when feeding!) Many cichlid varieties are also considered aggressive and it is suggested they are kept in a single species tank. Red and Tiger Oscar’s, the Green Terror, a Jewel Cichlid, the Convict Cichlid, Firemouth, Texas Cichlid and Jack Dempsey. Lake Malawi in East Africa is home to Mbuna Cichlids (including Auratus, Kenyi, Red Zebra, Pindani and Johanni.) These species are very aggressive fish and need to be kept in larger groups of more than 10. Tiger Barbs can nip other fish for fun, especially those with long fins, and Giant Danios are very active and tend to annoy or eat other species.

Housing aggressive species can be an exciting hobby, but extra precaution must be taken to ensure you do so correctly.