So, I have a 16" female ornate in my 125, she hides, she runs, she is just an ellusive lady. I got another ornate about 6 months ago. This one appears to be male (still quite chunky, but anal find looks a little large with a somewhat chunkier). The new ornate is about 8 inches now, he just exploded in the past 2 months. My question to the group, will he be safe if I rehouse him with the lady and the 12" lap bichir, or should I grow him out a bit more. I am worried he may start eating his tank mates soon.... though he knows to go after the pellets.
Ornate Bichir
- Thread starter Cosmic_surfer
- Start date
+1
Vancouver_98683
said, any sign of aggression from the bigger ornate take out the small one. Its a big size difference and ornate is really territorial to other polys. So just keep an eye on them in the big tank.
Vancouver_98683
said, any sign of aggression from the bigger ornate take out the small one. Its a big size difference and ornate is really territorial to other polys. So just keep an eye on them in the big tank.I think he might be to big for her to swollow, but it is such an expensive fish. She did show aggression when I introduced the lap bichir, I saw her bite his tail once, and one time she bit him on the face. She has since become pretty mellow towards the lap, though he just hides out in sone plants. It is really strange since I put the lap in the larger tank, he want from his lighter olive green color, and now he is a much darker green/grey with more distinct patterning contrast. Does this mean he is happier, or more stressed?
I say add him, don't remove if you see aggression the first week unless it becomes fatal, after a week if things don't settle down and you're not comfortable with the aggression remove it if you'd like.
Their color and patterns vary greatly, wouldn't go by that, if youre only seeing nipping here and there you'll be fine, but he will likely be stressed, onlynthing to do that seems to work is get rid of the aggressor or add more polys
Is the substrate, decorations, or lighting different in the 125 than in his previous home? The little guy may just be changing color to camouflage better or be reflecting different lighting. I would also add him and check on his condition frequently for several days to see if he shows signs of damage. If not, then the two of them will probably be ok.
I done something similar with mine biscirs. I add a male ornate that was about 25-30 cm long, with the female wich was really thicker and around 45-50 cm and the "chief " of the tank. The tank was'nt very big (150x50 cm) and also, the male arrived in very bad condition. he was upside down, and after i've managed to save him, he lost one eye versus the bacteria. I dont have any other place to house him... so i had to try luck adding him in the tank with the female. She was immediatly interested by the new guest, but beside everithing i've read about and my worryes about the whole situations, she never had an aggressive behaviour agains him. On the contrary, she swimmed with him for all the tank, like helping him get confortable and in this way managing not been disturbed by the 5 nile tilapias i've in the tank. I think maybe mine is a lucky case, but that's is my experience. So i quote the others, try and monitor the situation! 
(pic related)
(pic related) 
