long term shoal of goliaths

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sbuse

Feeder Fish
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Jul 1, 2009
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anyone have a long term shoal of goliaths? i have 3 right now and they are working as a team on some large goldfish like piranhas. one will bite a chunk off then the next one will grab it for a chunk and the smaller one will take a chunk then the big one will finish it off. i know vatf are pack hunters, but gatfs are said to be solo. anyone have a larger shoal?

mine are 4-6" right now
 
no, i have seen it with other vatf in tanks. also looking at what has been caught in other fishing shows it would make sense to be so. i don't care what jeremy says he is retarded. do you dispute this "pack hunting"? i see it in my gatfs.
 
I'm not convinced. Just because they can all be attracted to commotion and appear in large numbers doesn't mean they hang together and hunt together. With the 5 that I have when I watch them from far away they don't congregate. They constantly bicker and I see fights regularly. They will hang out in separate parts of the tank.

My theory is that they keep their distance from each other normally but when they are attracted to commotion or a feeding opportunity they will congregate and seem like they hunt in packs.

BTW when they do fight it's an amazing sight. It's like a whirlwind or a tornado. They're so fast all you see is a blur. I wish I can get it on video one of these days.
 
of my three goliaths they hang together mostly. then when the largest is feeling rowdy the 2 smaller ones hang together on one side of the tank while the large one hangs on the other. i have seen more then my fare share of fights myself it is crazy fast. you dont even see them bite, but you see the scales floating and some scrapes.

i have watched my gatf get the goldfish schooled up into a bait ball and then take turns lunging at them. then after one spooks out they get it and shred it. they all follow eachother to get a chunk when it gets bitten in half. the little one has figured out how to distract the other 2 with a flurry of scales then run off to the other side to eat its kill. it is amazing behavior. they act more like lions then fish, work as a pack, while maintaining independent interests in their own kills. yet at the same time they dont get defensive over the shredded fish. but wait till the other drops a chunk then take there own chunk. it is really cool.
 
I guess I'll have to observe more when I get my VATF in my big tank. Right now they're only in a 150g. I'm going to move them into the 680g when they get big enough not to become food for the 14" Aro. As far as I remember whenever I threw in feeders it was just a free for all and they just grabbed whatever feeder they're closest to. Right now they only get hikari sticks so there is no hunting necessary.... lol
 
They stay in pack, but they're not pack hunter. I have a group of VATF/GATF combination. Each of them grab a feeder during feeding time. They don't prey on one feeder.
 
maybe my gatfs are just lazy then and just wait for the other one to do most of the work. if i put small amounts of feeders in at a time it is a free for all, i am just talking about if there is a mass school of feeders in the tank at one time for a few days.
 
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