Male Reticulated Hillstream Loach being obnoxious

[anodyne99]

I had a small female Hillstream loach in my 25 gallon community with 10 Corydoras Adolfoi and 10 green neon tetra. She has remained tiny and I thought maybe she'd do better in a group. I brought home a male and female just a little bigger than her (they didn't have any quite as tiny) and the male has just been harassing the two females. It's especially bad when there is food in the tank. I have been feeding them with Bacter ae, Hikari algae wafers and Repashy. It's a well established planted tank with lots of biofilm and hiding places. The smaller female (my original fish) is now hiding all the time, and the larger female is just constantly getting pecked whenever he spots her. 

Should I assume that he is adjusting and establishing his territory, or is he just a jerk and it would be better to return him and give the females some peace? 

I thought Hillstream loaches were peaceful, except for some possible squabbling among males around food! 😬

Before you ask: yes, I am sure of the sexes.

Edited April 30 by anodyne99

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/29/2024 at 5:58 PM, anodyne99 said:

Should I assume that he is adjusting and establishing his territory, or is he just a jerk and it would be better to return him and give the females some peace? 

I thought Hillstream loaches were peaceful, except for some possible squabbling among males around food! 😬

I would think it's normal behavior based on what I have seen in my own tanks.  Any flat surface, they tend to do the "no it's mine" battle and it can look pretty nasty at times.  It's breeding behavior, but it's also just social hierarchy as well.  Having more flat spots, they will figure it out.  The less dominant ones in my tank went on the back glass, near the high flow spots around filtration.