Armatus checked out today.

[DB junkie]

It could make sense if it was Lucy.....

IF she was to feel threatened by growing wolves. Aimara gets close to her in size - dead. Iguaza was getting close - dead. Yet the little Australis (?) has never had a mark on it???

I KNOW the Lince pissed off the Armatus regularly. I could see it pushing the Armatus to darting, BUT the first Armatus looked to have Armatus wounds.

I did have a huge knife as a peacekeeper but he's currently in with the 2 Mbigua, Aimara and my 2 smaller Tatf. Not sure what kind of shennanigans would insue if I was to remove him.......

Heck, maybe it's the rays? They are big, hungry, and trying to produce....... I do know my bigger female had a huge bite on her a few weeks ago..... Had to be a Hoplias bite, nothing else has a wide enough set of jaws except maybe another ray, but this looked to be done by sharp teeth......

 

[Red Aimara]

If it is indeed Lucy, I believe you will need a huge peacekeeper to rein her in. A silver aro or some monster cichlid.

Perhaps those that were killed tried to challenge her in some way. Just a thought.

Is there an alpha in the tank at the moment?

Somehow species like Hoplias, ATF or most characins will not fill the role of a peacekeeper even if they dominate the tank. It will just kill off the mates one by one.

In my (limited) experience, certain cichlids and aros fill this role better.

 

[DB junkie]

I'm not sure on the alpha - probably Lucy. IF you mean who greets me by shooting up off the floor when ever people are in sight it's definitely Lucy. Lucy doesn't care for the Knife. Saw her latch on to his head and shake him when they were getting to know each other.... lol

The Dorado and Lince seem in their own world of non stop back and forth swimming. The Brycon kinda follows the Dorado..... The remaining wolf just sits around.

Really kind of doubting Lucy, she was raised with smaller tank mates and has always had smaller tankmates here..... I used to see those 3 wolves hanging out within inches of eachother all the time.

The odd thing is it seems like I never have time after an incident to move anyone - which is why I'm almost wondering if they don't get into little tussles then the rays try to finish them off and they kill themselves trying to escape/ darting from the rays? Makes the most sense.....

 

[Red Aimara]

Made sense to me too. Especially with that black aro that jumped out.

After all both the rays and wolves are sharing the same ground level territory. They could be harassing them below and spooking those above at the same time.

I read that the rays are a core part of your fishkeeping. Serious dilemma if they are indeed the ones causing all these incidents.

 

[moe214]

I read that the rays are a core part of your fishkeeping. Serious dilemma if they are indeed the ones causing all these incidents.

+1. It could be a different fish each time to though, you're saying they're passing with different bite marks, maybe there's no specific fish, they're just getting into it now that they're large, and because of this they can easily kill one another with a single bite and are doing so. We really won't know till you see it with your own eyes. You can see one fish kill another and remove it and find another passing the next day though, I wouldn't single any one fish out personally.

 

[KNH]

Perhaps too much commotion with the dorados, brycon and lince all constantly pacing the tank? May irritate the other tankmates? Spooking them or just stirring them up?

 

[moe214]

Perhaps too much commotion with the dorados, brycon and lince all constantly pacing the tank? May irritate the other tankmates? Spooking them or just stirring them up?

Could be possible. I know when I had two large bala Sharks, they swam back and forth constantly, at first my wolf seemed unbothered by it, then he started to flare at them, and then they were killed. And from past experiences, I had a wolf and a jag together and when first inteoduced they got into a fight for dominance, and my wolf was snapping at anyone who came near him during and a little while after they finished. So they can get irritated and lash out at others for no reason, and the ones irritating them if another fish is the cause.

 

[greenerinks]

Lots of speculation here but I agree with moe that singling any of the fish out isn't going to be a solution when most of these monster fish are mature or near mature. i also recommend a couple large dithers like a mature arowana.

 

[DB junkie]

I guess you could say rays are the core of my fish keeping! There's not a single tank here that doesn't have rays in it. IF this is indeed the problem it will be a reoccurring problem as the rays won't be going anywhere.

The black Aro jumped ship cause the girlfriend left the lid off, don't think it had anything to do with tank mates, the only thing in that 6x3 tank are 2 rays around a foot and a 6 inch Brycon.

I don't think it's any 1 fish in particular. I knew the Lince would upset the Armatus when I got it, a risk I chose to take cause it seems Armatus die no matter what so I wasn't about to pass on such a cat based on something I know would likely die for no reason.

I went down and checked on them this morning and Lucy was huddled up with the wolf half her size, both laying together under some driftwood.

Think it's time to rethink the amount of real estate available. Maybe I need some more room? I do have an empty 340 and 370 out in the garage. Maybe it's time to decide which wall has to come out...... lol. 2 more tanks would give a spot to move wolves to.....

I can't believe that 4 fish could cause too much comotion in this tank..... Should have seen the hussle and bussle when there were Tor in it.... lol.

 

[greenerinks]

Just wanted to add in an additional point. I noticed across the board for the monster fish keepers here in china always had not one but two or more spare tanks for recovery/quarantine tanks. I'd advise setting those two up and fight the urge to stick them into a full setup as in the short term yes it looks great but will definitely cause problems for any injured fish when there is no backups available.