Hoplias Aimara "Colombian Orinoco"

[DB junkie]

Take the driftwood out if you'd like, I'm curious if it will start hitting the lids again.......

Everyone I talked to stressed the importance of having a hide for them, but that's also with the end goal being a wolf that allows tank mates. IF all you're after is the typical crazy aggressive kill everything temperament then I can only see pulling the wood helping that. Should get you a nice gill flare and maybe even a charge whenever you're close to the tank.

 

[knifegill]

Hey!I found your thread. I see I wasn't the first to cry "dither".

I don't know if catfish logic applies here, but I'd actually recommend even more hideys than what you've got. Just a bunch of black plastic elbows from the hardware store would do. When I had my pile of raphael cats they were most active by day when they could just jump from hidey to hidey.


The fact that she is eating is a great sign. She might just need more time.

 

[Oxydoras]

Take the driftwood out if you'd like, I'm curious if it will start hitting the lids again.......

Everyone I talked to stressed the importance of having a hide for them, but that's also with the end goal being a wolf that allows tank mates. IF all you're after is the typical crazy aggressive kill everything temperament then I can only see pulling the wood helping that. Should get you a nice gill flare and maybe even a charge whenever you're close to the tank.

I'm interested (and rather concerned) if she'll start bashing the top again as well if I remove the hides. Though it could be a valuable experiment that could add to the aimara knowledge pool.

It makes sense to have hides if I was trying to keep her with other fish, but I'm completely fine with having her be a solo specimen for the duration of her life. I'm not at all "after" the insane aggression, I'm merely attempting to get her to eat more good during this critical juvenile stage. On the contrary, I'd be pleased as punch if she were to eat well, and stay docile! It's not the aggression that drew me to the fish so many years ago, it's the body/head shape, scale size, prehistoric look, and that unbelievably powerful build! The aggression can actually be a bit of a pain in the ass!

I think I'll try it tomorrow when I change out her water again. I supposes the worst that could happen is she freaks out, and I put them back in...

 

[Oxydoras]

Hey!I found your thread. I see I wasn't the first to cry "dither".

I don't know if catfish logic applies here, but I'd actually recommend even more hideys than what you've got. Just a bunch of black plastic elbows from the hardware store would do. When I had my pile of raphael cats they were most active by day when they could just jump from hidey to hidey.


The fact that she is eating is a great sign. She might just need more time.

Aaron! Welcome to the conversation

She had a dozen giant danios in the tank when I introduced her, but they "disappeared" in three days! I'm thinking about possibly adding a large school of neons/cardinals in hopes that they'll be to small for her to try and eat, but active enough to get her calmed down a bit!

As for the hides, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to adding more, it's just that she's such a horrendously messy eater. All of the scraps and pieces of uneaten food work their way under the driftwood, and it's a nightmare to clean! I can't imagine what it'd be like with hides all over the place...

 

[DB junkie]

Irwinni cats are great scrap eaters that seem to do well with wolves. Could make things easier for everyone. Should ix you having to retrieve uneaten food. Her watching another fish eat may even encourage her appetite. I've experienced better feedings with a bit of competition.....

Good call on the hides, worst case scenario you can always change it back..... Just gotta find what works...

 

[Oxydoras]

I'm going to be doing another WC tonight, so I'll remove them just before refilling. Wish me luck...

 

[Slippery K]

Take it out and see what happens, you can always toss it back in later.

 

[Oxydoras]

Well I ended up taking the hides out, and 48 hours later, she still hasn't bashed the tops. Also, in the two days she's been without a hide, I've got her to eat 5 silversides! I've just been tossing a few in right after lights out, and in the morning they're gone, and Leah's got a nice full belly. Looks like it might be time to start power feeding to make up for lost time.

Best decision thus far?! Time will tell...

Now I've just got to decide whether or not I want to add a large school of some sort of nano rasbora or neons. I'm just hoping they don't get sucked up in the filter, or thrashed around too much by the current.

 

[Oxydoras]

Just doing a water change on my lady's tank, and figured I'd post up a few pics of her in "grumpy mode"!

 

[limz_777]

grumpy mode ? this should be the chill out mode