silver perch in tank

[RyanG45]

hey all

i have two silver perch in a 2 foot tank and they have been getting along nicely untill about a week ago one just keeps chasing the other, they are both similar sizes (50mm). they both have sperate homes and rocks to live in, how do i stop them fighting do i get mesh and split the tank or do i only have one in the tank. also ive only been feeding the garden warms and they seem to love them, do they have a special diet. all help would be appreciated.

cheers ryan

[buih87]

i have owned many fish before and i think the problem is because they are getting bigger they like their space. a bigger tank might help. silver pearch are known to be aggressive fish and not to mix with other fish. can either slit the tank or get a bigger one. have to be careful of live foods as well because it tends to pollute the water faster. so keep en eye on your condition. they are hardy fish so they should be able to take whatever you throw at them.

oh yeah sometimes if they are the same sex they can be territorial. so yeah...

[RyanG45]

ok cheers for the info i wash the worms of under water first before i put them in and i have no idea if they are the same sex ahaha

[buih87]

i wouldnt have a clue either. when they have lil fry you know:P hahaha. it's hard to teach them to eat the artificial food they sell in pet stores. pet fish is for fun anyway. i had 6 fish tanks at one point not long ago and i owned 5 bullrouts. they are fun because you put lil gudgeons in and watch the bull routs pick them off one by one. at any normal pet stor you can buy feeder fish or shrimps and its fun watching them hunt. try it if you have never tried it.

[ellicat]

You could try a sacrificial fish like a small gold fish. In my experience, usually natives tend to concentrate on picking off one at a time (the weakest one). Eventually you'll get sick of that though. The fighting will never stop.

The only other suggestion is to identify the most aggressive one and put it in the bucket !!! :woohoo:

[RyanG45]

ahahaha you always seem to squeeze it in there ahaha cheers ecat

[chaujern]

at the local vietnamese restaurant in darra, they keep heaps of silver perch in an aquarium ... having said that it was around two metres long ... they kept at least 10 in there ...

[buih87]

yeah i know that restaurant. i cant explain how they dont kill eachother:/ but also it is outside and the owner told me there is no heating. so they can live in extremely cold temps and extremely hot temps as well

[elops]

Put a couple more in spreads the aggression, all Terapontids bicker and fight in community tanks to some degree, some are worse than others. Some small Gudgeons as dithers/feeders helps as well.