Fantastic RTC Behavioural Issues!

[miss__kp]

I thought I'd open this up for comment, my RTC is behaving very badly. Over the past week I've replaced airstones, heaters, fixed an FX5 twice and mopped up a lot of mess

He seems for lack of a better explaination utterly bored and likes to toss the FX5 pipes around and swing the airstone by the tubing. I keep him in a bare tank because he's always been moody and moreso if I leave the house for work etc.

He's a well fed happy boy but does anyone have suggestions to alleviate his boredom?

Play toy perhaps?

 

[haynchinook334]

how big is the tank? how big is your RTC? tankmates?

 

[miss__kp]

No tankmates, he's in a 350gal, he's just on 16 inches tip to tail now. Well probably a safer guess is between 16-20 inches now, I haven't really measured him recently.

 

[haynchinook334]

as they get bigger, they tend to throw there weight around. for the heater, I siliconed a peice of pvc pipeing to the back of the tank to cover the heater. i took out all air stone, just in case he swallows the air stone, as for the pipeing of the fx5.....more suction cup.

 

[basslover34]

it's funny that you mention that... Buster.. my 21"er has been recently doing similar things.. also beat up his tankmate just for the fun of it

I'm tired of every night going to bed and hearing him spash water out of his tank and when I come back to clean it up he sits there on the bottom with that "What... Tigger did it!!" Look on his face... the minute I leave the room I hear the "SPLASH" look back in there and he's settling back down to the bottom...

Although he's not 2... I'd like to think he's just in his Terrible twos's and he'll grow out of it... otherwise... I'm lowering the water level in his tank

 

[yemista]

do they get more violent as they grow older?

 

[haynchinook334]

do they get more violent as they grow older?

I'm not saying violent, just more active.

 

[basslover34]

not really more active as they get bigger... it's just a weird size for them... TONS of energy and still a huge appitite... once they get past this size then they start to really chill out and become slower moving God knows my wood floors are waiting for that day to come

 

[basslover34]

do they get more violent as they grow older?

this isn't Violence... it's just being hyper some times... Buster will actually slowly easy up to the glass and then try to swim through it... sometimes he'll really try to swim as hard as he can... casues the TSN in there with him to get plastered against the other side of the tank till he stops

 

[ctoychik]

Funny ... mines (approx. 2 feet each) are not so active once they were moved to large aquarium (2x3m). the most actvitiy i ever observed out of them is swimming up and down the glass when i am around. They certainly do not chase down feeders no more (at least not in my presence) ... they go for big stuff now ...whatever is worth the effort?

when they were in the smaller 150g they were like vacuums when it came to feeders