Just been reading an artical saying that farmed Cichlids are not as aggressive as they were 15 years ago,
This is the bit about firemouths
Firemouths
You probably wouldn’t think the Firemouths are that tough a fish, but by jove they used to be. This is the species that would happily flare its throat at an aquarist as much as a rival male, and then back it up with a hefty nip when you tried to do some tank maintenance.
But nowadays, they’re more Ghandi than Ghengis Khan, happy to stay out of trouble’s way, grubbing about for food, and getting roughed up by a passing Kribensis.
In the wild these tough Central Americans are used to holding their own against other fish, and clearing the way when they spawn. But it seems that farming has reduced these once ferocious bulls to the aggression levels of a kitten. After all, when was the last time you saw a wild Firemouth? It’ll be a while, I’ll wager, with almost all the fish we see being raised in the Far East, or Eastern Europe.
All I can guess is that the mass-rearing conditions, combined with a reduced incentive to display traditional behaviours are having a cumulative effect. After all, it’s well understood that many fish learn their behaviours from others.
It seems a sad, self-fulfilling prophecy that we eventually put the ‘meek’ into Thorichthys meeki.
This is the bit about firemouths
Firemouths
You probably wouldn’t think the Firemouths are that tough a fish, but by jove they used to be. This is the species that would happily flare its throat at an aquarist as much as a rival male, and then back it up with a hefty nip when you tried to do some tank maintenance.
But nowadays, they’re more Ghandi than Ghengis Khan, happy to stay out of trouble’s way, grubbing about for food, and getting roughed up by a passing Kribensis.
In the wild these tough Central Americans are used to holding their own against other fish, and clearing the way when they spawn. But it seems that farming has reduced these once ferocious bulls to the aggression levels of a kitten. After all, when was the last time you saw a wild Firemouth? It’ll be a while, I’ll wager, with almost all the fish we see being raised in the Far East, or Eastern Europe.
All I can guess is that the mass-rearing conditions, combined with a reduced incentive to display traditional behaviours are having a cumulative effect. After all, it’s well understood that many fish learn their behaviours from others.
It seems a sad, self-fulfilling prophecy that we eventually put the ‘meek’ into Thorichthys meeki.