Lombardi

Question
Hi,
My name is Jess, and i have a 190 litre freshwater tank that has been
established for around two years. i have around 20 fish. Some of the first
fish i had were Lombardi, and they have since bred and bred and now there
are loads of all different sizes. They have never been a problem, even playing
nice with the silver dollar, but now one of the smaller babies is bullying a
larger lombardi to the point where she just hangs in the corner. I;i'm just
wondering what i should do, and maybe some tips on catching small fish in a
large tank that has plenty of hiding spaces!

Thanks,
Jess

Answer
Hi Jess.  I personally would remove the fish that was being the bully, as well as some of the other "small" ones.  You didn't say if you had another tank that you could put them in?  I'm going to assume that you do.  As far as catching them, GOOD LUCK, lol.  It's just going to take time and patience and possible remodeling of the tank when it's messed up from chasing fish!  This has happened to me more then once, so you're not alone.  I'm just worried that if you do not remove the bully, you may stress the other fish to the point of death.

As far as setting up a new tank, I would "seed" the tank with stuff from the established tank i.e. some gravel (or sand, whichever you use), some water from that tank, and I would also put the media that you are going to use in the filter for the new tank INTO the established tank for a day or so (actually they recommend about 10 days but you don't have that long).  Use as much substrate as you can from the established tank in the new tank.  This will help speed up the "cycling" of the new tank, and help establish a bacteria column in the filter media.  You will have to keep a close watch on the new tank as it cycles, as you will have to keep up with water changes, etc., to keep the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates down.  I would buy a good master water test kit if you don't already have one, so that you can keep testing the new tank water (as well as your established tank).

I hope this makes sense to you.  Feel free to write me back with any further questions, or for clarification on anything, or for help along the way.

Good luck, I hope everything goes smoothly for you.   ;o)