Until yesterday I had 2 beautiful 7inch heckelli swimming about in my amazon 180 gallon community. I've had these guys from 1 inch fry and they have quickly become my favorite fish, mostly due to their gentle nature, behaviour and beauty.
In the past couple months I have noticed some courtship behaviour... gentle lip locking, gill flaring and flashing... I knew I had a pair. The female who started out as the smaller fish had outgrown my male by half an inch but much thicker in body and with a more rounded belly.
My plan was to purchase a 120 gallon 4x2 and see if I could breed them, however thats no longer an option.
When I got home from work yesterday the male heckelli was cowering in the top back corner of the tank. He had Basically been de-scaled and his beautiful fins reduced to bloody nubs. Nearly every part of his body had been torn up and he was barely alive. I quickly transferred him to my hospital tank but alas he passed away this morning.
The culpret of the tank had to be the female heckelli as the only other occupents are some uaru and a foursome of geo abalios who are all really peaceful.
This has been a big shock for me. These fish are amongst the most peaceful I have ever kept and its like the female had snapped to full psyko mode In a period of only a few hours.
I have checked on the internet and found similar stories of seemingly placid female heckelli changing to bloody killing machines over night. I am kicking myself for not researching this earlier as his death may have been avoided.
So I guess I am putting this out there as a sort of warning so my tragic miskake doesnt have to be yours... watch those female heckelli carefully, she could wake up on the wrong side of bed one day!
Sent from my GT-N7105 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
In the past couple months I have noticed some courtship behaviour... gentle lip locking, gill flaring and flashing... I knew I had a pair. The female who started out as the smaller fish had outgrown my male by half an inch but much thicker in body and with a more rounded belly.
My plan was to purchase a 120 gallon 4x2 and see if I could breed them, however thats no longer an option.
When I got home from work yesterday the male heckelli was cowering in the top back corner of the tank. He had Basically been de-scaled and his beautiful fins reduced to bloody nubs. Nearly every part of his body had been torn up and he was barely alive. I quickly transferred him to my hospital tank but alas he passed away this morning.
The culpret of the tank had to be the female heckelli as the only other occupents are some uaru and a foursome of geo abalios who are all really peaceful.
This has been a big shock for me. These fish are amongst the most peaceful I have ever kept and its like the female had snapped to full psyko mode In a period of only a few hours.
I have checked on the internet and found similar stories of seemingly placid female heckelli changing to bloody killing machines over night. I am kicking myself for not researching this earlier as his death may have been avoided.
So I guess I am putting this out there as a sort of warning so my tragic miskake doesnt have to be yours... watch those female heckelli carefully, she could wake up on the wrong side of bed one day!
Sent from my GT-N7105 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
