BV's 75 gal. - Journal
- Thread starter Big Vine
- Start date
Today's update is on aggression...
(note: oscar = 8"; convict = 4"; salvini = 3.5")
oscar and convict
Oscar is boss, but he and the convict flare back and forth at each other whenever the oscar backs the con into a 'corner.' Convict sometimes lunges up at the oscar, with his gills flared, from a foot away. Oscar's response is to stand his ground and open his mouth. Majority of the time the con either submits or the oscar just slowly swims off as the con tucks himself away. Sometimes the oscar will simply lunge at the con, who then promptly retreats. Other than slowly swimming away---of his own accord---the oscar never 'runs' from the convict.
Most of the time they are not engaged in this sort of behavior, and they occupy a lot of the same swimming space together (usually with the oscar in the mid/upper levels of the water column; whereas the con sticks to lower/mid-water). Throughout this time, 'amicable' co-existence is possible as the con shows belly when the oscar gets close.
convict and salvini
Con has always made a point to stick his nose in the sal's corner of the tank. He used to make passes through the sal's territory, but now he seems to have let up a bit. Con still lurks around and shakes his head at the sal, but the salvini stands firm at the entrance of his territory and the con usually turns around and swims off. Out in the open, the convict will chase the salvini back to its territory without fail. This is not an issue during feeding time, as all three tankmates do the feed-me dance up at the front together with little incident.
oscar and salvini
Oscar will chase the salvini back behind the flowerpot, but mostly these two don't get a chance to interact (because the con is always interjecting himself into the middle of things).
While I'm almost certain that the oscar and convict could live out their entire lives relatively amicably together, I can't even begin to guess at how the oscar and salvini would get along---simply because the convict prevents the salvini from spending any significant time outside of its little corner of the tank behind the flowerpot.
In sum, I don't feel that anything needs changing, and I have no reason to believe that any of the fish are in any immediate peril, but I'd still appreciate some feedback. Any red flags stand out at anyone at this point?
BV
P.S. Thanks Jess!
P.P.S. Yup, he sure is, Katie. Soon be time to get more pics up in the oscar thread!
(note: oscar = 8"; convict = 4"; salvini = 3.5")
oscar and convict
Oscar is boss, but he and the convict flare back and forth at each other whenever the oscar backs the con into a 'corner.' Convict sometimes lunges up at the oscar, with his gills flared, from a foot away. Oscar's response is to stand his ground and open his mouth. Majority of the time the con either submits or the oscar just slowly swims off as the con tucks himself away. Sometimes the oscar will simply lunge at the con, who then promptly retreats. Other than slowly swimming away---of his own accord---the oscar never 'runs' from the convict.
Most of the time they are not engaged in this sort of behavior, and they occupy a lot of the same swimming space together (usually with the oscar in the mid/upper levels of the water column; whereas the con sticks to lower/mid-water). Throughout this time, 'amicable' co-existence is possible as the con shows belly when the oscar gets close.
convict and salvini
Con has always made a point to stick his nose in the sal's corner of the tank. He used to make passes through the sal's territory, but now he seems to have let up a bit. Con still lurks around and shakes his head at the sal, but the salvini stands firm at the entrance of his territory and the con usually turns around and swims off. Out in the open, the convict will chase the salvini back to its territory without fail. This is not an issue during feeding time, as all three tankmates do the feed-me dance up at the front together with little incident.
oscar and salvini
Oscar will chase the salvini back behind the flowerpot, but mostly these two don't get a chance to interact (because the con is always interjecting himself into the middle of things).
While I'm almost certain that the oscar and convict could live out their entire lives relatively amicably together, I can't even begin to guess at how the oscar and salvini would get along---simply because the convict prevents the salvini from spending any significant time outside of its little corner of the tank behind the flowerpot.
In sum, I don't feel that anything needs changing, and I have no reason to believe that any of the fish are in any immediate peril, but I'd still appreciate some feedback. Any red flags stand out at anyone at this point?
BV
P.S. Thanks Jess!
P.P.S. Yup, he sure is, Katie. Soon be time to get more pics up in the oscar thread!
Just caught up with this thread, and I have a few thoughts/comments:
1. As others have mentioned, all three of your fish are stunning in their own way. It's fantastic to see how Triton has grown up since the last time (several months ago) I was spending much time on the boards, and his coloration is great. The convict has fantastic shape and finnage, and the colors on the salvini are outstanding. Three excellent specimens kept by someone who obviously cares a great deal about his fish (despite any "experiments" he may subject them to).
2. I'm very interested (as I'm sure you and everyone else is) to see how this plays out. And I'm glad we have someone with your attention to detail to chronicle it all.
3. Awesome videos. You can now count me among your YouTube subscribers
1. As others have mentioned, all three of your fish are stunning in their own way. It's fantastic to see how Triton has grown up since the last time (several months ago) I was spending much time on the boards, and his coloration is great. The convict has fantastic shape and finnage, and the colors on the salvini are outstanding. Three excellent specimens kept by someone who obviously cares a great deal about his fish (despite any "experiments" he may subject them to
).2. I'm very interested (as I'm sure you and everyone else is) to see how this plays out. And I'm glad we have someone with your attention to detail to chronicle it all.
3. Awesome videos. You can now count me among your YouTube subscribers
Beautiful fish and tank, Big Vine! You really have a knack for aquascaping. Your plant's a great choice; I have a similar silk and plastic plant I bought at a craft store that's anchored under pots, slate, and driftwood. But everything looks great. I gotta ask... how often do you find stuff rearranged?
And I may have missed it in the thread, but what's the staple diet you feed these guys?
The colors on your fish are remarkable. That convict, wow, one of the best-looking I've ever seen. I watched your videos too, very nice.
I'm curious to see how things progress as the convict gets older. If I had to bet, I'd say he'll turn into the dominant one down the road.
It's always interesting to see the personalities of individual fish within the aggressive species. I have a firemouth that's essentially the boss of my 180 gallon tank, and he always scatters the fish when the oscars and blood parrots start showing off how big (or in the case of the blood parrots, how little and malformed) their mouths are.
And I may have missed it in the thread, but what's the staple diet you feed these guys?
The colors on your fish are remarkable. That convict, wow, one of the best-looking I've ever seen. I watched your videos too, very nice.
I'm curious to see how things progress as the convict gets older. If I had to bet, I'd say he'll turn into the dominant one down the road.
It's always interesting to see the personalities of individual fish within the aggressive species. I have a firemouth that's essentially the boss of my 180 gallon tank, and he always scatters the fish when the oscars and blood parrots start showing off how big (or in the case of the blood parrots, how little and malformed) their mouths are.
Last edited:
Thanks to both of you for your feedback...much appreciated.
Before I answer questions---check this out!
------>YouTube - Convict + Oscar Interaction<------
It's a video showing the dynamics between the convict and oscar.
It consists of roughly 2 min. of footage which was taken during the 10 min. or so following their morning feeding. It was put in the vid in chronological order.
***********************************************
lordroad...believe it or not, there's no rearranging whatsoever on the part of the oscar.
Also, their staple diet consists of Hikari Cichlid Bio Gold+, but occasionally they'll get freeze-dried krill and some 'older' Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets (soaked with Boyd's VitaChem vitamin supplement) that I'm trying to gradually get rid of so I can just stick with the Bio Gold+ from now on.
Lol, so you've turned this tank into a CA/SA cichlid setup...cool!
Was this the same tank you once had a stingray in a while back?
BV
Before I answer questions---check this out!
------>YouTube - Convict + Oscar Interaction<------
It's a video showing the dynamics between the convict and oscar.
It consists of roughly 2 min. of footage which was taken during the 10 min. or so following their morning feeding. It was put in the vid in chronological order.
***********************************************
lordroad...believe it or not, there's no rearranging whatsoever on the part of the oscar.
Also, their staple diet consists of Hikari Cichlid Bio Gold+, but occasionally they'll get freeze-dried krill and some 'older' Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets (soaked with Boyd's VitaChem vitamin supplement) that I'm trying to gradually get rid of so I can just stick with the Bio Gold+ from now on.
Lol, so you've turned this tank into a CA/SA cichlid setup...cool!
Was this the same tank you once had a stingray in a while back?
BV
Sparks have been flying a bit, and given the situation I've got in one of my other tanks (which is now empty), I have decided to break up the three stooges. Changes are reflected in my sig.
Thanks to all who have followed along.
Hopefully some of my ramblings over the course of this thread have helped someone in some way, lol.
BV
Thanks to all who have followed along.
Hopefully some of my ramblings over the course of this thread have helped someone in some way, lol.
BV
Convict was returned to the LFS when I traded in the angels and the rest of the fish that are no longer in my sig. He was a beauty, so it was a shame to have to let him go, but I think it's for the best.
The splitting up of these 'three stooges' had more to do with other factors than it did with the 'sparks' I mentioned. Given the revamp of my 38 gal. setup in light of recent issues with the angelfish, I decided it would be a good spot for the salvini. As for the oscar's tank. Well, I could have let the convict stay in there, but I have more peace of mind without him, to be perfectly honest. For one, I won't have to worry so much about fish scraping themselves on tank decor...for two reasons. First, with just an oscar I don't need territories for each fish, so I don't need as much stuff in there. Secondly, there won't be any fish chasing each other and running into things. A big factor was also nitrAtes. Maintaining them was manageable, but I could see issues down the road. And this has everything to do with the fact that I'm forced to age tapwater under aeration (primarily due to tankwater vs. tapwater discrepancies in pH). If the parameters afforded me the luxury of just slapping a python on to the faucet and filling up the tank that way, then it wouldn't be such a big deal. But as it stands now, aging 40 gallons of water to tote around to my tanks twice a week is rather tedious, to say the least.
Hopefully that provides some clarification.
In sum, the setup itself didn't fail; I threw in the towel.
BV
The splitting up of these 'three stooges' had more to do with other factors than it did with the 'sparks' I mentioned. Given the revamp of my 38 gal. setup in light of recent issues with the angelfish, I decided it would be a good spot for the salvini. As for the oscar's tank. Well, I could have let the convict stay in there, but I have more peace of mind without him, to be perfectly honest. For one, I won't have to worry so much about fish scraping themselves on tank decor...for two reasons. First, with just an oscar I don't need territories for each fish, so I don't need as much stuff in there. Secondly, there won't be any fish chasing each other and running into things. A big factor was also nitrAtes. Maintaining them was manageable, but I could see issues down the road. And this has everything to do with the fact that I'm forced to age tapwater under aeration (primarily due to tankwater vs. tapwater discrepancies in pH). If the parameters afforded me the luxury of just slapping a python on to the faucet and filling up the tank that way, then it wouldn't be such a big deal. But as it stands now, aging 40 gallons of water to tote around to my tanks twice a week is rather tedious, to say the least.
Hopefully that provides some clarification.
In sum, the setup itself didn't fail; I threw in the towel.
BV
Not much, really.
Actually, that's not entirely true...
Salvini tank (38 gal.)...
I'm gonna go out and pick up a school of black-widow (a.k.a. 'black-skirt') tetras. They may not last forever, but they'll add a nice touch until the salvini has had time to get bigger.
Also, the tank isn't quite 'scaped to my liking, but I'll post pics once it's ready to be revealed.
Oscar tank...
Re-decorating time! Now that he's got it all to himself, I can get a little more creative...maybe push for a theme of some sort. I removed all the driftwood and rocks. All that remains is the flowerpot, fake plant, and fake lilly pads.
I gotta think about what direction I want to go with his tank.
It's got natural-colored gravel, and the pot and fake plants also lend toward that more 'natural' look. I should probably leave these items in the tank because I've got no other use for them, but I'm not so sure on what else I might add/change to make it a little more unique either. Hmm...
Lol...Triton is having a temper-tantrum as we speak!
BV
Actually, that's not entirely true...
Salvini tank (38 gal.)...
I'm gonna go out and pick up a school of black-widow (a.k.a. 'black-skirt') tetras. They may not last forever, but they'll add a nice touch until the salvini has had time to get bigger.
Also, the tank isn't quite 'scaped to my liking, but I'll post pics once it's ready to be revealed.
Oscar tank...
Re-decorating time! Now that he's got it all to himself, I can get a little more creative...maybe push for a theme of some sort. I removed all the driftwood and rocks. All that remains is the flowerpot, fake plant, and fake lilly pads.
I gotta think about what direction I want to go with his tank.
It's got natural-colored gravel, and the pot and fake plants also lend toward that more 'natural' look. I should probably leave these items in the tank because I've got no other use for them, but I'm not so sure on what else I might add/change to make it a little more unique either. Hmm...
Lol...Triton is having a temper-tantrum as we speak!
BV
So is Triton missing his buddies?
Man, you have so much patience to stop and start over as often as you do -- but it makes for great reading.
I liked this tank idea and wish we could have seen it play out (meaning I wish the angels hadn't caught whatever parasite they caught), but I definitely understand. Plus, now we get the misadventures of your salvini and the strangely-disappearing tetras
Man, you have so much patience to stop and start over as often as you do -- but it makes for great reading.
I liked this tank idea and wish we could have seen it play out (meaning I wish the angels hadn't caught whatever parasite they caught), but I definitely understand. Plus, now we get the misadventures of your salvini and the strangely-disappearing tetras
