I thought IT's were only aggressive towards their own?

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Fractal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
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California
My IT's were bickering amongst themselves. It was only bad when I had 2 of them. I have 5 small guys (1.5-2.5") and now I'm noticing a different behavior.

I gave away my 2 Red Severums to my friend with a bigger tank so I had room to buy new fish :). I bought Delhezi Bichir and put him in my tank. The Bichir was settling in and as he touched the bottom of the tank 3 of my larger IT's came out to investigate. They took turns pushing the Bichir around the tank. It didn't look like the Bichir was disturbed, but I kept watch to make sure it didn't go any further than nudging. They stopped after about 10 minutes, guess they finally pushed him into neutral territory.

I then waited a few days and added a 2" chocolate cichlid. The little choc took up residence behind one of the driftwood (alpha IT's Territory). Poor guy is gets chased by the alpha.

All the stuff I've read I've never come across Datnoids being this territorial. I guess I'm going to have to rearrange the furniture tomorrow and have them all re-establish their new territories. Has anyone else observed this type of behavior from their IT's?
 
My IT's do that all the time to new fish I introduce into their tank. But then again I have over 30 of them. After a few days, the new inhabitants aren't the focus of the dats any more so they tend to leave them alone. I always add groups of fish so this may help spread out the aggression.
 
They should get used to them soon and the nudging should stop soon. I never had chocolates before but I have noticed that the ones I have seen have been pretty docile.
 
They'll do the same thing at all various sizes/stages of their life. Constantly establishing hierrachy, inclusive of other fish. My z. Blue frontosa usually squares up to similar size dat, but runs as soon as the 12 inchers approach. Also the different growth rates of each fish, mean I have had 3-4 different bosses / alpha.... in my tank over the last few years. the fast growers hav caught up and now it's there turn to be boss :D

Not normal when they indos start attacking other fish.
 
Not normal when they indos start attacking other fish.[/QUOTE]



Not normal?? You just need to get some stuff they feel like picking on Ade :ROFL:
 
That is good to know and thanks for all the replies. It's a new process for me keeping Datnoids and their behavior takes getting used too.

I have 4 Odd ball ITs and 1 3 Bar IT(alpha). I'm definitely going to move around the driftwood so that it changes up the scenery and makes it so that they have to establish new homes. It'll give my chocolate a chance to claim some real estate.

Have to buy new plants too, forgot how much cichlids like to tear up plants.
 
Slight update.

I rearranged the driftwood in the tank and something amusing happened. All the Datnoids are out and just looking at each other. I think they're confused and looking for their hiding places. The chocolate cichlid found himself a spot near the powerhead. The bichir is going round and round the tank hunting for food.

Ahh I love my fish when they're not quarreling.
 
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