Melody
Feb 4th 2007, 05:44 PM
I find the reasons behind aggression to be an interesting study and there's more to it than I thought there was before I started looking into it.
My most recent example was a wild-type P. Velifera Molly. Not exactly the poster boy for aggressive fish....lol. I had him in a 33G Livebearer tank with a herem of females - he's a beaut that I've chosen as a breeder male.
About 3/4 of the tank is pretty much open space, with dense cover in the other quarter, all on one side. He took over. He had all of the other Livebearers (Plumetail Platy's, Albino Pastel Swordtails and a couple of Lyre Sword females) coralled into the planted corner while he strutted through the open space. A territorial fish will often include cover in 'his' space, a cave or whatever, but this fish had no cover whatsoever in the space he was defending.
We can't have that, so I moved him & his herem into the 90G with Swordtails and other fish who could handle him better. This does not make me happy as I wanted P. Kykesis to grow out there because they get much larger, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.
I've been watching him just out of interest and he swims right from one side of that tank to the other, up & down, gleefully enjoying the ample open space. He still nudges the occasional fish out of his way, but he's nothing close to the terror he was becoming in the 33G.
He's a 'beefy' fish for a livebearer, deep bodied, big sail and should reach around 5-6"+ in length. He is a 100% pure wild strain and I suppose it is natural for him to have retained many of his wild needs and instincts.
As I watched him I think I nailed the issue - he just wanted space. Not territory like territorial fish want - he didn't care where it was, he just needed it and the only way he could get it was to clear the other fish from the only open space in the aquarium. With ample space he was quite content to just swim in it, fast and for long laps.
He refused to sit still and pose but I finally got a half decent shot of him in his new digs.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-P-Velifera-M-2.jpg
I won't be so quick to judge a fish to be aggressive or territorial anymore. :smile:
My most recent example was a wild-type P. Velifera Molly. Not exactly the poster boy for aggressive fish....lol. I had him in a 33G Livebearer tank with a herem of females - he's a beaut that I've chosen as a breeder male.
About 3/4 of the tank is pretty much open space, with dense cover in the other quarter, all on one side. He took over. He had all of the other Livebearers (Plumetail Platy's, Albino Pastel Swordtails and a couple of Lyre Sword females) coralled into the planted corner while he strutted through the open space. A territorial fish will often include cover in 'his' space, a cave or whatever, but this fish had no cover whatsoever in the space he was defending.
We can't have that, so I moved him & his herem into the 90G with Swordtails and other fish who could handle him better. This does not make me happy as I wanted P. Kykesis to grow out there because they get much larger, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.
I've been watching him just out of interest and he swims right from one side of that tank to the other, up & down, gleefully enjoying the ample open space. He still nudges the occasional fish out of his way, but he's nothing close to the terror he was becoming in the 33G.
He's a 'beefy' fish for a livebearer, deep bodied, big sail and should reach around 5-6"+ in length. He is a 100% pure wild strain and I suppose it is natural for him to have retained many of his wild needs and instincts.
As I watched him I think I nailed the issue - he just wanted space. Not territory like territorial fish want - he didn't care where it was, he just needed it and the only way he could get it was to clear the other fish from the only open space in the aquarium. With ample space he was quite content to just swim in it, fast and for long laps.
He refused to sit still and pose but I finally got a half decent shot of him in his new digs.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-P-Velifera-M-2.jpg
I won't be so quick to judge a fish to be aggressive or territorial anymore. :smile: