Do your fish like to redecorate?

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FINWIN

FINWIN

Alligator Gar
MFK Member
Dec 21, 2018
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Washington DC
I have two serious redecorators, and two casual.

Boss (BP) rarely redecorates unless something is in his way...he'll push at it to clear a space. He pulled up a red plant by his pot last month. I replanted it 3 times, he pulled it up 3 times.

Patch (BP) redecorates occasionally. She'll move a plant or two, usually shoving it into the corner. Pushed her ceramic canister one time to the side. She doesn't like anything blocking her 'house'.

Brick (O) has a new game, it's called "Pull the heaters off the suction cups and leave them hanging" game. Next he likes to stick his head in the pothos vine and drag it around randomly. He threw a tantrum when I added the new fish and tried to rip up every plant (no success at that). Off and on he nudges one of the mineral spheres. He's also shoved the large corner filters away from the corners.

Kong (BP) is the real decorator. Every day he's moving everything around. One day he'll shove all the plants into one corner. The next he'll have them sprawled on their sides in the sand. Then he moves or bites the pothos vine, leaving a random piece to float. The only thing he leaves alone is the boulder which he often rests around. I had a large spider plant in his tank that he ripped up and turned upside down by the root. He also tore up the marimo balls, shredding them or sleeping on them. The small ones he moved around and put into his 'house' for a bed. The big one he stripped to fiber. Sometimes he lays a plant directly in front of his 'house.'
 
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I had an oscar that was like that (in a 55). He started out by moving all the gravel around, then he moved to uprooting plants, next he moved to BREAKING heaters, he would attack them so viciously he broke them. Then he started pulling the intakes out of the filters, then he started tearing apart sponge filters. I got several small decorations that are connected to a bubbler that makes them move around (I had an alligator, a skeleton, and an octopus) and he destroyed them all, snapped them apart. I had a shop (plastic, maybe 8 inches long) and he would swim around with it in his mouth like some monster of the sea. That oscar was a prick and was really nasty, but man he was funny.

I had a red devil who did that too (in a 55). He'd move the gravel around, uproot the plants, move driftwood and rocks, pull heaters off the glass, pull the intakes off of the filters, and he pulled one of those magnetic algae scrapers off the glass and started batting it around like it was a game of soccer. Hands down the funniest thing he did though was pull the sponge filter apart and make a cave out of it for his fry when he bred.

I had a dovii cichlid (in a 180) who had some real attitude. He has literally CRUSHED the intakes, like broke them into pieces, he has broken numerous heaters, moved all the gravel around, even going as far as to spit it at people when they went up to look at him. He would tear apart plants, flip over decorations I put in there, bury things. My favorite memory of him though is when he grabbed a suction cup and swam around with it, it looked like he had a pacifier in his mouth.

The last fish I had that did that was a green terror, he wasn't too bad though. He just moved gravel around and moved decorations and flipped stuff over.
 
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My EBAs liked too, and my regani dwarf pike cichlid also enjoyed making burrows/ uproot plants.
 
I had to oscar-proof everything in my solo oscar tank. I did leave him some plastic plants and gravel to move around. I made sure the rocks were too big to move. I put the heaters in a sump. I can't have monsters and heaters in the tank together.

No matter how I arrange his tank he tries to build a fort out of whatever he can move. Then he hides in it until I come to feed him.
 
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Welp, Patch (avatar) outdid herself today. I don't know if this qualifies as redecorating or destruction but she managed to rip out a branch from the stone base of a silk plant. I have no idea how she did it, but I suspect she used her teeth.Then she carefully tucked the loose piece back underneath the other branches. :screwy:

Will get a pic.
 
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You can see how Felix has shoved everything together at one end of the tank so he can hide behind it all. He sort of Incorporated the existing overflow plumbing and the fake Ivy that I have concealing it from View into his fort design.

Then he dug out all the gravel behind those plants and spit it into the corners of the tank, until he's got a spot down to the bare bottom where he can rest.
20190329_104439.jpg
 
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FINWIN said:
I have two serious redecorators, and two casual.

Boss (BP) rarely redecorates unless something is in his way...he'll push at it to clear a space. He pulled up a red plant by his pot last month. I replanted it 3 times, he pulled it up 3 times.

Patch (BP) redecorates occasionally. She'll move a plant or two, usually shoving it into the corner. Pushed her ceramic canister one time to the side. She doesn't like anything blocking her 'house'.

Brick (O) has a new game, it's called "Pull the heaters off the suction cups and leave them hanging" game. Next he likes to stick his head in the pothos vine and drag it around randomly. He threw a tantrum when I added the new fish and tried to rip up every plant (no success at that). Off and on he nudges one of the mineral spheres. He's also shoved the large corner filters away from the corners.

Kong (BP) is the real decorator. Every day he's moving everything around. One day he'll shove all the plants into one corner. The next he'll have them sprawled on their sides in the sand. Then he moves or bites the pothos vine, leaving a random piece to float. The only thing he leaves alone is the boulder which he often rests around. I had a large spider plant in his tank that he ripped up and turned upside down by the root. He also tore up the marimo balls, shredding them or sleeping on them. The small ones he moved around and put into his 'house' for a bed. The big one he stripped to fiber. Sometimes he lays a plant directly in front of his 'house.'
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With Brick have you tried floating plastic ball. I think I read sometime ago that small ping-pong ball is non toxic. Mine love to tear apart Marimo Balls and plants.

As far as my 'aquascape designers' definitely my cichlids. Like to make dunes out of sand or gravel--I have both. In their natural state cichlids will push and pull small or even larger rocks to form hollows and nests. Mine do the same in their home tank. I provide a few rocks for them to do this. Some cichlids are busy fish and like things to do.

I had mentioned to our shy friend, about your new threads a day ago. I always mention your threads to him and how fun and interesting ones and have even mentioned the names your cool older threads. I think he would feel comfortable on your threads. He might have forgotten. I will let him know again. Thanks for another good one.
 
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