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Pond Chat / Re: Aggressive Male Shubunkin
« on: August 05, 2011, 04:36:38 PM »There are some fish that are 'disturbed'. Some are fin nippers, some are reclusive and never go near the others, some never leave the side of another, some are slime suckers and some have .
A few years ago I moved a new small 6" shusui koi from the quarantine tank to the main pond where for two months he persisted in sucking the slime coat off the much larger others. I was advised that this aberrant behavior is rare but can be lethal to other koi so he should be euthanized. Instead, I put him back in the basement quarantine with two veiltail goldies on which he never feasted. The following spring, I returned him to the pond as a test and he never did it again.
Whether you try the timeout (but he will need a male companion), the rehoming or the clove oil dispatch, do try something for the safety of your other fish. With your small pond you dont want to be inundated with fry, especially those carrying the male's agressive gene.
Good luck!
Good heavens, I never considered fry who would inherit this gene.
The place where I buy my fish has several very large ponds in the back, where they allow you to drop off your unwanted fish. (The owner swears that they do not re-sell them.) I think I am going to take this guy for a final car ride before I lose all my fish from stress. The poor girls cannot even eat in peace.
No, I don't think it is just teenage hormones because over the last two months I have never seen him when he was not bothering another fish. It is very bizarre. I won't tell you what we have nick-named him.