Black CK and Gold CK suddenly fighting ? HELP !!

[flamenco-t]

I have had them both since they are about 2-3" long a year ago. They're about 10-11" now.
They have been living together in the same tank, but for the past 2-3 weeks, I kept noticing more scratches and ripped fins from both of them.

I thought they've been swimming against the rocks and gravel, but it turns out, they have been fighting at each other...

I saw both of them picking on each other's fins and tails..

Is this a normal behaviour ? there's no clear domination, they seems to be equally aggresive towards each other all of the sudden.

DO I need to start seprating them ?

thanks

Stan

 

[benzjamin13]

How big of a tank do you have?

 

[flamenco-t]

100 gallon wide

 

[benzjamin13]

I think you just might have to separate them. CKs can be aggressive towards each other. Especially when it comes to territory. I've seen pairs or CKs before, but I've never tried to house a pair myslef. Good Luck!

 

[flamenco-t]

The thing that puzzled me is that they have been housed together for a long time without any aggresion towards each other. This just happening lately. They usually hang out at the same spot for a while.

I'm keeping an eye on them for now...I'll post some update in a few days..

stan

 

[KnivesRule]

Mine go through periods of peace and fighting. They have lived together for years and suddenly without warning they will start bitting each other. I suspect it could possibly be spawning behavior, but there is very little information about mating behavior as they have not been bred successfully in captivity. I had one which I eventually removed from the tank because he was always being bit by the others. My suggestion is to keep an eye on them for now. If it gets very bad you may need to separate them. I put a divider in my tank for a few weeks until everybody healed. Since I removed it then they have been realativly peaceful. They do heal amazingly well but obviously you do not want them constantly fighting. Good luck.

 

[BigPleco]

Lets see some pics of these beauties!!!

 

[flamenco-t]

The Black CK is about 11", Gold is 10" and the Royal which I just got is about 12". The tig is about 14" and the TSN is about 10"

stan