Subj : Re: The Mystery Almost Solved
To : Michael Grant
From : Jeff Snyder
Date : Fri Jul 03 2009 01:27 pm
On 07/03/09, Jeff Snyder quoted Michael Grant: The Mystery Almost
Solved.
MG> In my experience, the "aggressive" tags given certain species are pretty
MG> broad generalizations, and individual fish can tend to vary widely from
MG> such designations. However, pretty much every electric blue that I've seen
MG> in local shops appeared to behave aggressively towards their tank mates.
I can certainly attest to that. As I've noted previously, I have five
Melanochromis and/or Pseudotropheus species in my 45 gallon tank right now.
They are beautiful fish, even rivaling some marine fish in their beauty; but
boy, the level of aggression between them is significant, and a clear
pecking order exists between them.
Subdominant male #1 appears to have accepted his role as the last to feed.
Even female #1 is more aggressive than he is when it comes to feeding time.
I think that it is part of her nature to pack it in when she can, because
once she spawns and carries eggs, she won't eat for several weeks.
Subdominant male #2 has lately been giving my dominant male -- Bully Boy --
his money's worth, by challenging his authority. Subdominant male #2 has in
fact claimed territory that previously belonged to Bully Boy; and while
Bully Boy is still the king of the tank, when it comes to feeding time, he
is actually quite the chicken. Lately, I've been referring to Bully Boy as
Mr. Spooky because of the way he slinks around the rocks. He thinks that I
don't see him, but I am always eyeballing him. When he realizes that I am
peering down through the rocks, he moves on.
MG> I try to stay away from pairing and spawning if possible. It's too much
MG> work for me to set up multiple tanks. I also once had three large angels
MG> and two of them paired up. It didn't end well for the third (he was
MG> blinded, and couldn't see to feed). I eventually lost the main aggressor as
MG> well, as the third gave back almost as good as he got.
I have several seven-gallon and twenty-gallon tanks set up and running as
emergency tanks. I have used them in the past to grow out Copadichromis
Borleyi -- the Red Kadango variety. I used them recently to split up my
fish, but this caused them to not behave naturally, so now they are all
together again. When female #1 spawns again, I've decided that rather than
place her in an emergency tank, I may just leave her in the main tank to
hold her eggs; the reason being that with her last batch, five of her eight
fry died within a day of being released by her while still in the holding
tank, and I am still not certain why this occurred. Of the three that
remained, it appears that only one has survived after I placed the three in
the main tank. I call him "Junior". He is a spunky little guy, and has now
survived just over two weeks in the tank with the "big boys". I suspect that
he will make it to maturity without getting eaten, and it thrills me every
time that I discover him cruising amongst the rocks. He is now about 3/4 of
an inch in length, and is acquiring a faint blue hue.
Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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