skoram
Active Member
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- 135
Last night I noticed my pair of wild Ivanacara adoketa "lip-locked" in battle. I purchased the fish about 10 months ago and have never witnessed anything more than some occasional light harassment until yesterday. The vast majority of the time they have gotten along peacefully often swimming together in close proximity.
The tank is a 100 x 45 x 45 cm riparium. The only other fish in the tank are 2 otocinclus. The tank has a small mirror and both the male and female often flare into it (but never at each other). It may be of potential relevance that it rained yesterday here in Seoul, Korea. I mention this because one theory I have is that the male may have had the strong urge to mate (I also recently lowered the pH of the tank slightly) whereas the female may have been disinterested, and decided to fight back to put an end to his sexual advances. The male and female are similar in size (the female may even be *slightly* larger). Thankfully, just before I went to bed, the fighting seemed to have calmed down. The female clearly emerged the victor and the male seemed, in my eye, to have become more timid around her. She did not chase or attack him, even when they were in direct line of sight, but did become aggressive whenever he got too near her.
Since these are quite expensive and also, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful and richly colored adoketas I have seen (photos and video do not do them justice), I would like to do everything in my power to avoid injury or death to either fish. Please post here if you have any experience or insight about this.
The tank is a 100 x 45 x 45 cm riparium. The only other fish in the tank are 2 otocinclus. The tank has a small mirror and both the male and female often flare into it (but never at each other). It may be of potential relevance that it rained yesterday here in Seoul, Korea. I mention this because one theory I have is that the male may have had the strong urge to mate (I also recently lowered the pH of the tank slightly) whereas the female may have been disinterested, and decided to fight back to put an end to his sexual advances. The male and female are similar in size (the female may even be *slightly* larger). Thankfully, just before I went to bed, the fighting seemed to have calmed down. The female clearly emerged the victor and the male seemed, in my eye, to have become more timid around her. She did not chase or attack him, even when they were in direct line of sight, but did become aggressive whenever he got too near her.
Since these are quite expensive and also, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful and richly colored adoketas I have seen (photos and video do not do them justice), I would like to do everything in my power to avoid injury or death to either fish. Please post here if you have any experience or insight about this.