Feel free to post pics, I'm not the best at sexing them, but I can definitely spot a few traits.
Aurantimaculata tank v2.0. Don’t die on me again !
- Thread starter TomatoandEgg
- Start date
Don't quote me on it, and wait for D -DC- to chime in, but looks like 5 females, 1 male, or 6 females. I'm pretty bad at this, especially with so much movement, but I seem to have spotted a male. Would be hard for me to point him out with timestamp, but it's the one with the smallest gap between caudal and dorsal fins.
I reached out to Paul Jones. A UK based snakehead guru via his YouTube channel. He had a look at my video and said
“you have an amazing looking group and scape, they always look female until one doesn't, don't worry about it... they usually pair up when then temp starts to drop around 18*c. you know you'll have a pair when it starts to look like ww3. that is when the males start to change their appearance.“
So hopefully I got some boys in there! Maybe they haven’t started going through puberty yet.
In other news the hierarchy of the tank is establishing itself with a clearly dominant fish who hangs in the middle of the tank. You can see this individual start bullying the others in my last video. The others hide out under cover only really coming up for air. He chases them off if their eyes meet. No violent skirmishes yet. A couple of frayed fin and the occasional face bite mark the next day. It it’s generally acceptable behaviour.
The fish is larger than the rest so I am employing targeted feeding so the other fish get twice as much food. Hopefully they will catch up in size and not be so vulnerable to bullying tactics.
“you have an amazing looking group and scape, they always look female until one doesn't, don't worry about it... they usually pair up when then temp starts to drop around 18*c. you know you'll have a pair when it starts to look like ww3. that is when the males start to change their appearance.“
So hopefully I got some boys in there! Maybe they haven’t started going through puberty yet.
In other news the hierarchy of the tank is establishing itself with a clearly dominant fish who hangs in the middle of the tank. You can see this individual start bullying the others in my last video. The others hide out under cover only really coming up for air. He chases them off if their eyes meet. No violent skirmishes yet. A couple of frayed fin and the occasional face bite mark the next day. It it’s generally acceptable behaviour.
The fish is larger than the rest so I am employing targeted feeding so the other fish get twice as much food. Hopefully they will catch up in size and not be so vulnerable to bullying tactics.
So I went to the fish shop today and I saw a load of aurantis most of whom were massive compared to my crew. They ranged from 10 to 17 inches.
The guy in the shop assured me the season for aurantis was over. Given what I read DC say about wild caught auranti being super thin after being caught at the tail end of the winter season I took him at his word.
I was left with a quandary. If my tank has no males then I won’t be able to add any new fish until next season. By which time my fish may be too big and established to accept new males into the group. Alternatively I have the sound advice from Paul jones saying chill out! But then I remembered a member here saying it took 3 attempts to pair from different groups!
There was one clear male, the smallest in the fish stores tank. In my tank he would be a veritable monster compared to the rest. My guys range from 7.5 to 8.5 inches. This guy was a 9.5 inches no question. I pulled the trigger.
I got home and immediately gave him a little PP bath for 30 minutes. During which I fed the other fish. I figured the new guy needs to let the others catch up so I’ll be target feeding them double his allowance. I also wanted them well fed and docile as I expected some fighting when I add a new male to the group.
When I put him in the entire mood of the tank changed. All my fish began flaring to the max and fighting amongst each other. They would sway back and forth by each other’s sides and then snap and bite each other sending one darting off for cover. They ignored the big guy as he slinked around the tank exploring his new surroundings.
30 minutes later the original 6 were calming down towards each other but they all started having a go at flaring and picking a fight with the big guy. My biggest pair were able to tussle for a short time before being chased off by the newbie. The smaller ones would have their entire heads clamped by the new guy and were shut down fast. He stalked the tank for 30 minutes laying a beat down on anyone who challenged him.
Then it was calm. I’m giving them 24 hours to settle down before I step in. If the new guy can’t adjust to the group then I’ll have to return him. It’s a shame because hes a beauty.
Here’s a short video during the part where the new guy was exploring and the others started flaring. So how many males now? Lol
The guy in the shop assured me the season for aurantis was over. Given what I read DC say about wild caught auranti being super thin after being caught at the tail end of the winter season I took him at his word.
I was left with a quandary. If my tank has no males then I won’t be able to add any new fish until next season. By which time my fish may be too big and established to accept new males into the group. Alternatively I have the sound advice from Paul jones saying chill out! But then I remembered a member here saying it took 3 attempts to pair from different groups!
There was one clear male, the smallest in the fish stores tank. In my tank he would be a veritable monster compared to the rest. My guys range from 7.5 to 8.5 inches. This guy was a 9.5 inches no question. I pulled the trigger.
I got home and immediately gave him a little PP bath for 30 minutes. During which I fed the other fish. I figured the new guy needs to let the others catch up so I’ll be target feeding them double his allowance. I also wanted them well fed and docile as I expected some fighting when I add a new male to the group.
When I put him in the entire mood of the tank changed. All my fish began flaring to the max and fighting amongst each other. They would sway back and forth by each other’s sides and then snap and bite each other sending one darting off for cover. They ignored the big guy as he slinked around the tank exploring his new surroundings.
30 minutes later the original 6 were calming down towards each other but they all started having a go at flaring and picking a fight with the big guy. My biggest pair were able to tussle for a short time before being chased off by the newbie. The smaller ones would have their entire heads clamped by the new guy and were shut down fast. He stalked the tank for 30 minutes laying a beat down on anyone who challenged him.
Then it was calm. I’m giving them 24 hours to settle down before I step in. If the new guy can’t adjust to the group then I’ll have to return him. It’s a shame because hes a beauty.
Here’s a short video during the part where the new guy was exploring and the others started flaring. So how many males now? Lol
