[Warehouse41Ant]

I just bought a pair of Peacocks from my LFS about two weeks ago. The female was holding when I got them. I stripped the fry when I got home and got them into a breeder net. All seemed to be going well.

The fish seemed rather unagressive so I put them in with a much smaller lab-hybrid thing I picked up awhile back. It can get agressive...but he was half the size of the female peacock in question and about 1/4 the size of the new male. All seemed to be going fine.

Two days ago I noticed that the female was looking a bit beat up. A couple nips in the fins was most of what I saw, so I didn't think too much of it. Then yesterday morning, a big chunk was taken out of her dorsal fin, and pectoral fins were pretty well beat up. These were not cheap fish, so I decided I'd better do something.

While I was observing I noticed the little lab-hybrid start getting aggressive and chasing her around, so i figured he had been the one who was doing it. I nabbed him and put him in a breeder net in the tank. Figured things were fine, left for awhile.

When I came home she was wedged, upside down, next to the breeder net. I assume the male was trying to mate with her again, and for whatever reason, I missed his aggression. He has thus far seemed like a very docile, slow moving fish. Evidently that changes when he's trying to mate.

In any event, for the past (roughly) 20 hours or so, she's been upside down in the breeder net (took the little guy out), breathing very slowly. Her mouth and gills are still moving, but she doesn't look good. Fins are beat up, many missing scales, looks like her tail has some sort of internal bleeding because it's looking red.

Just wondering if there is any hope for her? I've never caught a fish upside down prior to it actually being dead. On that same note, I've never caught one this badly beat up either. If she's upside down, is she done for? Is there anything at all I can do to save her?

Any advice is welcome, and I apologize in advance for the long-winded post. Just trying to figure out how to save her. :fish:

 

[copasetic]

melafix and get extra oxygen to the tank but chances sound slim to none! sorry to hear.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Well, a few things come to mind here...

What species are these? Some are more aggressive than others and require larger tanks and larger female ratios.

What size tank do you have them in?

These aren't "pairing" fish, so trying to keep a male with one female almost always ends in disaster. They should be kept as harem breeders, with 1 male to 3-4 females.

As for the fry, unless they came from a single species tank when you bought these two, they might not be pure.

 

[Warehouse41Ant]

Well. Disregard this post. Stopped breathing awhile ago. I don't think there was much I could do for her.

They were the only ones in the tank, so the fry should be pure. LFS said they had them for about 3 weeks.

And unfortunately, I didn't have access to 3-4 females. I always like to keep this ratio, but this pair were the only two my LFS had.

What confuses me is they had gotten along fine the whole time. I asked the guy at my LFS about their aggression and he said they had been fine together. They were there for 3 weeks (small, standard fish store tank) and she looked perfect when I got her (and she had been holding). Then I get them home, strip the fry, and keep a watchful eye on them, and this happens in a matter of hours.

Hopefully I get a decent batch of fry and my $70.00 investment in these two fish isn't wasted. :?

 

[Dewdrop]

So sorry to hear you lost your female. I'd get those fry out of that breeder net and into a little tank of their own before the male or that hybrid fish decides to eat them through the net. Good luck with the fry.