2 lessons learned; stick to your feeding schedule AND being large means nothing...

[mynheers_a_pint]

well this all unfolded while i was present so i feel really bad about it.

I usually feed at about 8.30pm but this evening i was running a bit late. It got to 9 and everyone was a bit agitated including my brown knife who usually waits for the food but today he was out and about. He's 9/10" and usually commands a bit of respect in the tank due to it's quick movements. Well whilst zipping round he came accross my 3" pike who has been very socialble with everything in the tank. I genuinly thought the Pike was more likley to get the brunt but how wrong i was.

The pike attacked the knife without warning and proceeded to pursue the knife round the tank. Poor knife is a bit battered and i'm worried that i'm going to loose it now. I know pikes can have a bit of an attitude but being that it is 1/3rd of the knifes size it would be ok.

I guess that the pike is such an agressive eater, he went for the first thing available but it's really annoying. And there i was thinknig the pike was more likley to be attacked and/or eaten.



Lesson learned; stick to feeding schedules with agressive fish.

 

[cichlid savage]

I really don't think feeding your fish a bit late was the problem. I feed my fish at different times due to my strange work schedule and occassionally starve them a day or 2. I dont know why a few minutes late would have caused such a problem.

 

[mynheers_a_pint]

perhaps i'm being a bit naive then. Eitherway, it was a shocker and it was the only thing i could think of that would of caused such a conflict.

 

[zennzzo]

I don't know but I keep all my preds fed full to the brim and I think it cuts down aggression...if they are filling their face, there is no time to fight for anything else, I think...

 

[Newt]

An Amazon Leaf fish I had once ate a 4" BGK that was temporarily sharing it's tank. A fish eater is a fish eater and doesn't know the difference between food and tankmates if it's hungry.

 

[onlikedonkeykong17]

30 minutes?
I don't think that should have made such a difference....

 

[andres]

Agreed, I don't think it was the schedule.

 

[cvermeulen]

If anything, you being there and the fish anticipating food is likely to have caused the turmoil. I also sometimes starve my aggressive fish for a couple of days at a time and it doesn't change their behavior much. My 11" Oscar and 12" brown knife squabble constantly, but the knife is too fast for the Oscar and the Oscar is too cautious and big for the knife to hurt, so nobody ever winds up wounded. More of a game than anything it seems like.

 

[LiveCulture]

i also feed my fish on a very odd schedule and it hasnt effected them in the way you described...but a week ago i got out of the shower in the morning and my new 4" silver arowana was in my 10" longnose gars' teeth...i must have caught him just in time cause i banged on the tank lid and he let go, the arowana ended up just fine.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Its a real risk having a 4 inch fish with a 10 incher.