Could be bad news for "Armatus"

[channarox]

Well, I moved "Armatus" (the big one) into the 75 today. He is around 15" and pretty thick... What ashame. I think I waited to long. He seems very disoriented. You know like when fish are gonna die. "Fang" (sorry Vamp) seems to be a little less stressed already and could possibly make a full recovery. I am ashamed of myself to have let this go on for so long... I feel as if I tried everything. They seemd to show no aggression towards each other when I am around. They are side by side all the time. I am assuming this is possibly the problem just because i have tried everything thing else. Even stuff that I know would'nt make a difference.
I have to apologize to our community for being such an idiot. Trust me my punishment is already at hand
Anyway i will get some picutres up of the horrid situation whenever I can pull my h#*d out of my ***....

dont feel so bad.
you raised them up to a good size,and they aint dead yet!
i lost mine after having it for 3 weeks!

 

[OnceLoyal]

I hate to say it but... you didnt think of this before you got the Armatus (the tank not big enough)? As much as I love Armatus and miss my old guy, I knew I was not going to end up getting my Monster tank this year or next... so I had to let him go before he hurt himself in my tank or I got more attatched to him.

I think 90% of everyone that has an Armatus right now will most likely end up selling their big boy for cheap or it will end up dead from bashing itself (All JMO).

I would try dithers too thou... something that moves a lot like Red Hooks?


G/L with them big dogg... im hopping you can pull it off with them

Its a 400 Gallon tank man......

 

[OnceLoyal]

BTW dont get me wrong but considering the norm...14-15" fish with another 13-14" fish sharing an 8Ft. Tank isn't bad no matter hwat kind of tank it is in lol.... Of course it can always be bigger.. In other words I dont think the tank size was the issue here.... Anything is possible though.

 

[DB junkie]

I'm starting to wonder if the more space you give them the more territorial they are. I had 2 Dorado in my 300 and they relentlessly chased eachother. Now I have 5 in a 40 and they are perfectly fine and have been for months. Tankmates are an absolute must if you ask me. If they won't tolerate other fish they probobly aren't going to tolerate eachother. Disperse the aggresion by not letting them focus the aggresion on 1 fish. Having just a pair of fish allows no other outcome but all the aggresion directly on 1 another. Live and learn. Its only a waste if you don't learn anything from it. Don't let the "what ifs" get ya, you've become smarter, and knowledge is priceless.

 

[channarox]

I'm starting to wonder if the more space you give them the more territorial they are. I had 2 Dorado in my 300 and they relentlessly chased eachother. Now I have 5 in a 40 and they are perfectly fine and have been for months. Tankmates are an absolute must if you ask me. If they won't tolerate other fish they probobly aren't going to tolerate eachother. Disperse the aggresion by not letting them focus the aggresion on 1 fish. Having just a pair of fish allows no other outcome but all the aggresion directly on 1 another. Live and learn. Its only a waste if you don't learn anything from it. Don't let the "what ifs" get ya, you've become smarter, and knowledge is priceless.

that is exactly right.
look at many asian tanks,most are tiny compared to your american tanks and contain so much more fish.
there are rarely any aggression issues because they are forced to live together in small quarters where one cannot claim a territory because fish constantly swim everywhere in the tank.

 

[mshuangchao]

My pair of armatus have established their territorys even in the small space I have created for them using a seperator, if either one crosses the line the other will chase him off. I think they're best kept in singles if the tank is not big enough.

 

[West1]

Thats a good observation DB. Now you got me wondering if I could of kept my Armatus in a standard 300 30" wide????

Im curious to know who else is having success in smaller tanks??

 

[channarox]

Thats a good observation DB. Now you got me wondering if I could of kept my Armatus in a standard 300 30" wide????

Im curious to know who else is having success in smaller tanks??

i know of a few people who have armatus in small tanks only 2 feet wide.
theres a local guy with two armatus 16" plus and a GATF in a 5x2x2.
no injuries and growing well.

 

[M.Carfi]

I had aggression issues early on in my mix, I learned to control it by keeping full bellies.

 

[mad ness]

yes Carfi's right, full bellies is #1 key, naturally.

the other is space ie large space with lots of small territories. just imagine a huge warehouse with sections vs one that's completely open. then throw in a bunch of apex humans. in either situation confrontations will occur but the latter platform allows retreat where as the former does not. crowding ie less space per inhabitant would help to achieve confusion, lack of focus on single targets, but compared to ample space and territories, IMO not as good for long term solution.

Im not sure exact dimensions of OP's tank are... but 8ft is plenty length for a 15incher. Width, i'd say an armatus needs at least 2.5 times it's length to do that parry circle swoop it does.