2 IT's the chase is on!

Fractal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
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California
So I setup my 90gallon fish tank and after it was completely cycled I thought I'd pick up some fish.

I walked through the LFS and nothing really caught my eye. That was until I walked by one of the tanks that at approximately eye level. I noticed a little stripped thing looking at me and pecking at the glass. So I fell in love and bought him a 1" Indonesian Datnoid. The same day I bought 2 Red Severums and 2 Candy stripped plecostomus. Everything was going good with the tank, but seeing as how cool Dats are I picked up another at $10 usd :). Now the first Dat won't stop chasing the second dat *sigh*.

Is this going to continue or will it stop after the slightly larger one feels comfortable with his dominance? Oh they're both approximately 1", but the bigger one is just slightly bigger.

Tank is 48x18x24 running a wet/dry sump filter. I also have a few Rosy barbs in the tank to play clean up and maybe something else for the big IT to pick on.
 

bongko

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 6, 2009
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Los Angeles
they're just territorial. try giving enough hiding places for both of them. i bought 5 IT's thinking that they would become a school like the ntt's i have, but all 5 never really get along.
its been ~2months and the largest IT is ~3" now and the smallest 2". There seems to be a dominance type thing going on with them in my tank. the boldest is super stable and the smallest is semi-stable (not quite as bright gold), but they all end up chasing each other out of their designated areas all the time. they dont do any real damage, just the occasional chasing and fin-nipping so i dont worry about them too much.
 

Fractal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
137
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California
I decided to add a third one in there to maybe distribute the agression out a little, but I think the second I introduce isn't going to make it. The first one is trying to mess with the 3rd dat, but the 3rd dat isn't having any of it. They're swimming side by side anow and fin slapping, but no the all out chase it was.

Hope #2 makes it through and #1 needs to learn to chill out.
 

Fractal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
137
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California
I think 3 is the max, they're going to need a much bigger home when they outgrown the 90g I have them in now.

I think Dat #1 is going to end up chasing and killing dat #2 and #3, they both cowering in different corners of the tank. I do have quite a few caves in the tank for them to hide, but he hunts them out and chases them. We'll see how things go tomorrow morning. If the 2 new guys kick the bucket, #1 will have his way and I'll be out $20 dollars.
 

Fractal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
137
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California
I was going to keep just 1, but decided to add another, and then since the second one was getting beat up I added a third to distribute the aggro in the tank.

So in total 3, probably will be 1 if the bullying continues.

It's not so much fighting, but the 1 Dat beating the other 2 into submission.

If I can wrangle up a camera I'll snap some pics and post them up.
 

RedDwarf

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2009
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Where the Sun is Warm
I would try putting Dat #1 on a time out. Confine it to one of them fish breeding nets and then rearrange the decor in your tank and in a few days let Dat #1 out of dat prison and then see how it goes. Would be a real shame to have two perfectly healthy dats get killed off. And I would suggest getting some larger pieces of driftwood and putting that in the tank, most juvenile fish like to hide in tree roots when it's part of their natural environment. And they can blend into the driftwood really well.
 

Ade

Piranha
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2008
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Did u do any research before buying a fish u knew nothing about?

2 will always fight. get a group of 5 or more ( them u can stop worrying about tiger 1,2 or 3 getting stressed/beaten to death)They'll be fine in your tank for at least 1 year.
 

Fractal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
137
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California
Yeah I did quite a bit of reading, but having kept more aggressive fish than datnoids before I wasn't totally ready for this type of aggression. With my old Jack Dempseys they'd beat the hell out of each other and then it's over after one cowers in the corner. Frankly I've had piranha's that were more friendly than this Datnoid lol.

I'm going to pick up some more caves, driftwood, and maybe a underwater punching bag ><. It doesn't fail that every time I setup a new fish tank there's always 1 jerk in the tank. I have an acrylic cube thing that I've already drilled holes in and plan to keep the little bastard in there.
 
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