Should I move the runt?

[tbird22771]

I have one fish in with the 4" juvies that is the runt, he was always smaller then the others and is now maybe 3" and definitely the low man on the totem pole in a group of 6. He eats and otherwise acting okay, doesn't have clamped fins, good color, and not thin but he just seems very unhappy - stays by himself, moves out of the way of the others is they want the spot he is in, etc. But they do not seem to really pick on him or bully him. I have another group of juvies from the same source that I have had for 2 months now and they are about 2.5" I was wondering if it would be of any benefit to the runt to put him in with the smaller juvies. The group of smaller ones is a group of 6. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Tracey

[DiscusLoverJeff]

It might be a good idea to move him to the other juvie tank. As the other fish gain in size over him, they could get aggressive. This way the little guy stands a better chance in with the smaller guys.

[Skip]

thats what happens when you buy small fish cheap (instead of adults, not cheap)..

they still have lots of growing to do.. and in a group.. there will always be slow growers and/or stunted fish..

adults you buy and pay more for.. are the fish that are the FASTEST GROWERS and LARGEST>> the others are culled..

leave him in.. he has a role to play.. if you not.. you move number 5 to low man.. and now you have TWO SLOW GROWERS/Stunted fish..

its your call :)

[Brent1972]

thats what happens when you buy small fish cheap (instead of adults, not cheap)..

they still have lots of growing to do.. and in a group.. there will always be slow growers and/or stunted fish..

adults you buy and pay more for.. are the fish that are the FASTEST GROWERS and LARGEST>> the others are culled..

leave him in.. he has a role to play.. if you not.. you move number 5 to low man.. and now you have TWO SLOW GROWERS/Stunted fish..

its your call :)

+1 , the only time I would move him is if he gets ill .

[DonMD]

Just as a comparison, I have 9 adults in a 125g tank, and of course one of the fish is acting exactly as you describe. I moved two of the other fish in there to a breeding tank for 2 weeks (they didn't hit it off, bummer), and during that time the timid guy came out of his shell and became much more active in the remaining group. But once I put the two breeders back in the tank, the runt went back to hanging back. So I'm with Skip, he has a role to play, and as long as he's healthy I think you should leave him in.

[strawberryblonde]

I'm with Warlock and Don, leave him in the tank so long as he's healthy and gets enough to eat.

I have one I named Number Five because he was low man on the totem pole and my other 4 all hung together and ignored him while he most hid or hung out by himself. He was healthy, he managed to find enough food even though he never came out to eat with the others and he grew much more slowly than the rest.

It's been 14 months that I've owned them. I pretty much stopped looking to see if he was growing and then one day about 2 months ago I realized that he looked pretty darned big. LOL

Turns out that he did keep growing, even though it was slower than the rest of the group, and he's now a very respectable 7.5". He's still low man on the totem pole, but he's not unhappy, and during my recent bacterial outbreak he was least affected (other than my marlboro) and recovered completely while the others are still struggling to get healthy. Go figure, huh?

So leave him be...

[Lt shinysides]

+1 , the only time I would move him is if he gets ill .

Defo if you move the small one then it moves on to the next smallest one, this is nature leave them be as long as they are all eating.....

[tbird22771]

Thanks very much for the input everyone :) I will leave him and let him serve his purpose!