The drama that is my cobalts

[Bedge]

All my fish are so well behaved, except the crazy cobalts.

We started off with four cobalts. They were all babies. We have had them for about 5 months now. Two grew quite large and two were about half the size of the others.

A week or two ago, the two large ones started really picking on the smaller ones. I lost one of the smaller ones. The other one is kinda hanging in there and I have it separated in a net. Its tail is non-resistant and its looking reeeeeally shabby - but still chipper! ha!

I have two questions:

How do you sex cobalts? I tend to thing the larger ones are males due to the aggression and size. I dont know if the smaller one I still have is a female or a smaller male.

Second question: what can I do to calm the crazy larger ones down? Should I introduce some females? Im going to go to Aquariums @ Asquith tomorrow to most importantly give Bella a pat (hope she is in!) and see what they have to say, but additional advise would be appreciated!

Thanks.

[dave air]

Cobalts can be nasty especially to their own. Try heaps of hiding places eg. rocks and build up the numbers to about 8 to spread aggression.

I have a breeding colony of these guys and the big male is constantly looking for someone to beat up on. Hope this helps.

Dave

[KIMO]

"Bella" is always there.....and she's always ready for a cuddle.

As for the cobalts, Mark and Jeff have Cobalts of various sizes, but distinguishing between male and female will be fairly tough. The more you buy the better the chance plus there may be safety in numbers also.

You may just need to stick with one great looking display male, unless you really want to breed them.

Good luck.