[kbolchalk]

Hello! I have 2 beautiful Rusty's, one being an alpha male, and constantly shimmying and nagging the other Rusty to the point that the less dominant/aggressive one hides or just kind of floats at the top of the tank to get away from my dominant guy. Can anyone tell me if the shimmying is because the less dominant/aggressive one is a female.. or because it's a male who's being picked on for territory? Either way the less aggressive seems miserable, but I wasn't sure if it was fighting or mating. I've seen the less aggressive one shimmy too though.. can females shimmy? I've posted pics.

They're in a 72 gallon bowfront with a TON of rock work for hiding and whatnot.

Displaying male (right) and the Rusty in question (left)
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/ ... DC0044.jpg

Displaying male is behind Rusty in question
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f334/ ... DC0043.jpg

Thanks for your time!

 

[DJRansome]

Could be either and yes females can shimmy. If it is an all male tank you would want only one rusty. If it is a mixed gender tank you would want four or more female rusties. If you have plenty of other female rusties then maybe this IS a sub-dom male and needs to be removed.