[Jacob]

I don’t know how good their memory is, I see them swim back into danger right after they get chased, in particular a female that is the only fish with no partner will get chased and then sometimes wander right into the territory of the fish that just chased it.
Maybe it’s just their natural behavior not working in a small space where in the wild they would have escaped.
The two pairs seem to know the invisible line that divides their territories. Right within eyesight of each other, they will display and only if a fish has gone over the line will a serious fight break out. Usually when a fish has gone over the line it will submit and back off, at least that’s what the weaker pair will do if it knows it is in the dominant pairs territory.
I tried to aquascape the tank with as many roots as possible, but removing them and leaving the tank mostly empty except for floating plants and a few roots has drastically improved the aggression problem. I had to disrupt them to try and reset the pecking order. Sometimes it seems like if the fish see each other it actually helps them avoid fighting. Reminds me of when I had a tank full of carinotetraodon lorteti and breaking up the lines of sight just meant they could ambush each other and get a few bites in.
I didn’t even know I had three females before redecorating was successful, but all of a sudden they had their color on. Their territorial behavior is interesting and it seems like a large group really is important, maybe if you have ten or a fairly large group they will “school” somewhat. Or maybe they will just break up into pairs and the crowding will not help at all. The pair I had that I tried to keep alone proved that they atl east need other fish to redirect their aggression away from each other.