dhulsey
New Member
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- Eugene, OR
Hello!
Bought a pair of cacatuoides knowing less than I probably should have.. They quite liked their new 20g long, and within 3 days chased down all the neocaradina in the tank and spawned in the central cave!
For 3 weeks post-spawn the female would chase the male away first from the cave and then the fry she was herding. Over the course of a couple of days the female stopped guarding the fry, and the male seemed to take over. The next day the male started aggressively chasing her all the way across the tank, and she began hiding. The following morning she was swimming a little funny, and her fins looked damaged.. At this point I decided to move her into a 5g where she has been recovering ~10 days. The male also became more aggressive towards the 5 otocinclus in the tank and wouldn't give them any rest. I introduced 10 ember tetras - now the male mostly chases the embers around and leaves the otos alone, but follows/leads the fry around the whole tank.
I have a few specific questions, but any input is welcome:
-Should I have moved the male instead? Should I swap male/female now?
-What are the chances the embers are doing their job and I could reintroduce the female without more changes?
-I have a different 20g housing survivor shrimp.. should I move them to use that as a grow out tank for the fry? Fish store said they will buy fry from me at an inch.
-Long term I want to avoid such aggression.. Will having a male & female make that impossible?
This has been a little unexpected and very wild ride. Looking forward to learning more!
Bought a pair of cacatuoides knowing less than I probably should have.. They quite liked their new 20g long, and within 3 days chased down all the neocaradina in the tank and spawned in the central cave!
For 3 weeks post-spawn the female would chase the male away first from the cave and then the fry she was herding. Over the course of a couple of days the female stopped guarding the fry, and the male seemed to take over. The next day the male started aggressively chasing her all the way across the tank, and she began hiding. The following morning she was swimming a little funny, and her fins looked damaged.. At this point I decided to move her into a 5g where she has been recovering ~10 days. The male also became more aggressive towards the 5 otocinclus in the tank and wouldn't give them any rest. I introduced 10 ember tetras - now the male mostly chases the embers around and leaves the otos alone, but follows/leads the fry around the whole tank.
I have a few specific questions, but any input is welcome:
-Should I have moved the male instead? Should I swap male/female now?
-What are the chances the embers are doing their job and I could reintroduce the female without more changes?
-I have a different 20g housing survivor shrimp.. should I move them to use that as a grow out tank for the fry? Fish store said they will buy fry from me at an inch.
-Long term I want to avoid such aggression.. Will having a male & female make that impossible?
This has been a little unexpected and very wild ride. Looking forward to learning more!