Is it ok to mix adult fish with juvies?

[aquadon2222]

My tank consists of mostly sub adult/adult fish 4"-6" in size, but I do have a few 3" juvies in there. They are, for the most part, shy hiders, but do come out to eat at chow time. I sense that they're healthy, but not so happy. I'm considering getting a grow out tank and moving them there until they can get back to the main tank, but wanted to get some input here first before deciding.

[sdrexler078]

I have all sizes in mine some big adults 6+ and a 3.5 and he holds his own quit well. If anything he's the alpha. But that's only my experience others may have had terrible experiences. You just have to watch and make sure the small ones aren't getting bullied too bad or vice versa in my case.

[aquadon2222]

I have all sizes in mine some big adults 6+ and a 3.5 and he holds his own quit well. If anything he's the alpha. But that's only my experience others may have had terrible experiences. You just have to watch and make sure the small ones aren't getting bullied too bad or vice versa in my case.

Ha, one of my little ones is the first to eat out of my hand, he's the alpha and he's going to be the king when he grows out (White Faced Red). I like to sit and watch how they all interact, the bigger fish don't bother with the two little shy ones, I just have to make sure they get their fair share of food.

[rdiscus]

Not a good idea to mix, the 3" will not grow much ...

[lipadj46]

You can do it, I've done it. It takes quite a bit of work though and you still may not grow them out to their full potential. You will need to do daily near complete water changes and overfeed so the smaller ones eat enough.

[ericatdallas]

In my experience, it's a bad idea because of the bullying. However, I've done it when I had one to two larger fish and several (8 or more) smaller but same sized fish. This distributes the bullying a little more. I had to do this because I needed a tank for a breeding pair I had. Six-inchers w/ some 4-inchers.

My feeling is that if you have several smaller fish then you're fine (exact number is hard to say).

I actually noticed that having one or two larger fish in the tank makes the smaller ones braver during feeding time, but again, that's IME.

[Rudustin]

I just took out of a grow out tank two silver pigeons that are getting stunted because the other tank mates are increasing very much in size. I did get the two plus two small yellow albinos into their own twenty gallon long so that they get a greater share of food. Hopefully they can get bigger and then I can put them in with their tank mates. In my experience I would prefer not to mix sizes. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me.

[BODYDUB]

If it were me I would move them to keep them from falling behind..............

[OC Discus]

My 5" Snow white adopted the 2.5" albino yellow as a little buddy. Back when the snow white was bullying the others, the albino yellow was never chased. He would eat right next to the snow white, like he knew he was special. The one most bullied is the second or third largest. A 4" blue pigeon is still the "weakest", most bullied fish. The 5" snow white and a 4" Fire Red for some reason team up on the 4" blue pigeon. The Fire Red and Blue Pigeon are from the same batch. My fish all get plenty of food, so mixing the sizes has not been an issue.

[aquadon2222]

Thanks for the input, it's funny how size is not always the factor in dominance. Lately I've been feeding in different parts of the tank all at once, and the bigger/more aggressive fish can't get it all, so the timid ones seem to get their share.