Tips from the pros? Trying to calm and aro comm

[hustler]

Ok so Ive got a 180 with 6 8-14" silvers and 4 8-12" rtg's with a few silver dollars and a pair of giant gourami.
They eat a plate full of prawns in the am and superworms in the pm every day.
I have a bit of current from 2 air stones and the 2 diffusers from the sump but im going to follow chens setup and get a few powerheads to push them around more.
And ill try adding more silver dollars to get it more active but as it stands right now..... Fights everywhere lol
I figure there is 1 alpha rtg and 3 silvers at the moment but im getting torn fins and the occational dropped scale everywhere.
Other than current and smaller dart fish is there anything else i can do to tame these buggers?
The 180 is packed right now and they will be moving to a 300g soon and im worried more room will get them scraping even more.... there is 10 aros in there now, i hope to switch the silvers out for sr and xbacks after the new tank is all settled in and calmed down....
Any tips or tricks would be GREATLY appreciated

 

[chen88]

Just current and make sure they are fed well...don't go by the condition of my aros in my tank as they are all new!.....i do have a lot of current inside but it was more to have good current for the rays and get rid of crap...and it does help with the aros as they seem to love taking turns getting into the currents.

 

[hustler]

Thanks chen
I cant believe how many comms are going on here all on our side of world and mature comms too.
I had to post this my fish are keeping me up at night with the splashing lol. Looking into odd numbers for aro comms via feng shui at 3 am ect ect something has to give here

 

[chen88]

LOL....yup....every time I hear splashing I rush to the tank hoping no one has broken through the top!....the top is extremely secured but it's just a habit! more concern someone knocking themselves silly and I might have to do mouth to mouth...LOL...

 

[mareshow]

i said this before but lighting and food. do not feed until full because i think this causes them to fight more, also keep the lights (depending on what you have) on for only limited time. for example i use 4 36" T8 fixtures with 2 67k bulbs each. my lights are on for a MAX of maybe 4 hours a day. i will however keep a corner on for a couple hours and rotate them and such. I found that this actually helped me with keeping them calm

 

[Boydo]

Like Chen and Mareshow mentioned changing feeding, current, lighting, tank mates and increasing the number of aros are the best place to start. I know you're building an auto water change system this will help a lot as they will get irritable if the water quality is less than ideal. However it is truly up to the personalities of each Aro whether your comm is a success or a failure. Anytime you make a change to anything in the tank expect some fights and a new pecking order with need to be sorted out. This is the reason most successful comms are in simple tanks without driftwood and decorations, they wont have a spot to fight over. However if a particular Aro continues to cause trouble you will need to remove him from the comm.

When I started my comm awhile back I went through several Aros changing out, removing and re-introducing pieces until I had a very peaceful tank with 12 aros at its peak. I had great success for about 3 yrs until some of the aros became mature and wanted to pair. The males in the pairs were very aggressive towards the other males in the comm. I removed the pairs into separate tanks, unfortunately I never got successful despite all the courtship.

At the end I had 7 pieces in the comm that were about 7-8 years old and 24-32 inches in length. The dust had mostly settled with still the odd tail nipping that I believe will always be in a comm tank. No matter what your idea of success is, there will always be some aggression in a comm tank even under ideal conditions. Whether the outcome of your tank is a success or a failure is truly your prospective.

 

[chen88]

Agreed with what Bret had to say as well. I've tried many aro comms and couldn't stand seeing the fins torn but recently have gotten used to seeing this and just consider it as part of having comms hence me jumping into the "deep" end and went a little nuts with my comm. If you don't mind the odd drop scales and odd torn fins then it makes it easier to keep comms...if you can't stand seeing those signs of comm it's best just to keep single aros. You will have to pay much attention with a comm to look out for those aggressive aros and or mates and constantly play with lighting, food (feeding), current and tank mate...that's the fun part of having a comm tank...always a challenge on it's own!....

 

[hustler]

Thanks for the insight i hear you guys there, I have no dilusions about tears and scales. I know a comm is always going to have them.
Im just looking for tips to lessen the battles or better ways to manage them and minimize damage. It has always been my goal to have a mature comm and i think i have the stomach for it now so heres praying

 

[hustler]

Quick update
With a few powerheads and the high output on the pool pump..... all is well thus far in the 300 gallon either that or the alpha is just full lol