New female keeps getting beat up

davenmandy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2012
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I bought a new female leo ray a couple months back. Within the first week she got beat up, some small nips on the disc but a quite large bite right where her hip bone should be ( I mean the base of the tail, I say should be because its not showing as she is nice and plump), bigger than the size of a toonie. I have a very dominant female leo in there that I thought was the culprit, and a more docile male leo that have lived together in peace. The reason I initaially thought it was the fmeale because the new one would run away from the female and I walked in on the old female dominating the new one pretty hard one day (holding her down while the othe rone was freaking out, tails up). The reason I think now that it is the male is because recently while separated, for the first time ever, the dominant female has been getting some bites on her, a small one on the hip and a few nips on the disc, but nothing like the other one.

Anyway, I separated her with an egg crate divider, healed her up back to 100%, and reintroduced her. They were fine together for about a month, only small nips but the dominant female got some small ones too. Yesterday I come back with a small bite out of the new ones disc, as well as a large bite on the hip again, bigger this time. Needless to say I separated again, however I am curious about a few things. THe males claspers have certainly gotten larger, but they are definitely not swollen or rolled, nor as big as you see some posted here. They are all about 13-14" discs, year and a couple months to a year and a half old.

What I am curious about is:

Is there any significance to the biting on the hip? I have heard of bites to the disc as a frequent occurence, but can anyone shed some light on the hip thing, keeping in mind it happened on my new female on two sides and a small one on the dominant female? (I'm hoping to hear it's a sign of breeding :))

Does anyone have any suggestions to reintroduce her back to the other two with more success? She doesn't seem to be too phased by it, she used to be quite skiddish but thats because she just came to a new home, and she doesnt have issues hanging out with the other two rays or bothered by the bites (although I do see her alone more than I see the other two alone). I am hoping that this doesn't mean that she will never be compatible with my tank.

Is this a bad sign that my male will be overly dominant when he fully matures?

Thanks for the help.
 

vamptrev

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2007
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Chesterfield MI
If its the male doing all the damage i would say that its a good thing, he sounds like hes going to be a good aggressive breeder in the future. This is the price you pay when you try to breed. Im constantly moving rays, seperating males, etc

I would say its just leos being leos. They are always aggressive and always biting eachother. I would just keep doing what you are doing and seperate whoever needs to be seperated. You will prob never just be able to have a peaceful tank and keep all 3 together all the time.


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davenmandy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2012
1,781
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Wow okay good to know. Time to build a new divider then, this one has seen better days. Thanks for the info, hopefully the bites heal well and don't scar.
 

burbon44s

Candiru
MFK Member
May 13, 2012
919
1
48
milwaukee
If its the male doing all the damage i would say that its a good thing, he sounds like hes going to be a good aggressive breeder in the future. This is the price you pay when you try to breed. Im constantly moving rays, seperating males, etc

I would say its just leos being leos. They are always aggressive and always biting eachother. I would just keep doing what you are doing and seperate whoever needs to be seperated. You will prob never just be able to have a peaceful tank and keep all 3 together all the time.


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Question for Trevor:
If there were more females in the tank, would that thin the aggression or make it worse?
Let's say. 1 male with 5 females? Or
You think they'll all get beaten up?

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davenmandy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2012
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Again not 100% confirmed its the male, just going on similar damage to the other female, but has anyone experienced biting at the base of the tail before that is not the edge of the disc? Also, what are peoples guesses as to why hte other female isn't being beat up, because she was there first and more dominant?
 

burbon44s

Candiru
MFK Member
May 13, 2012
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milwaukee
There was a resent thread in the last week, where someone posted a pic of his ray having a bite mark on a tail.
Everyone kinda thought it was from another fish.

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vamptrev

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2007
8,227
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Chesterfield MI
More rays will spread the aggression but it will still happen and once a ray has a bite mark all the other rays will nip at it too.

Just the other day my 2 males were doing perfectly fine together but then when i added a female to the mix the dominant male beat the crap out of the other male and the female.

Its always a gamble and always different


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burbon44s

Candiru
MFK Member
May 13, 2012
919
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milwaukee
OK. Thanks
Good to know. I was just thinking about getting another female or two.
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