My dovii, midas, texas and convict update

[LDPatton]

I bought 5 dovii from cota around april last year. They were all 1” to 1.5” at that time. I put them in my 300 gallon tank along with 4 midas that were 1.5” to 2” and a 3” male texas and 2” female texas. The fish have coexisted well with an occasional dispute and short chase. The male texas has been rough with the female texas. For the most part aggression has been dovii to dovii or midas to midas. I picked two of the dovii and two of the midas as keepers and planned in rehoming the others. In another few months I would pick the best one of each and move the others to new homes.

The largest dovii has changed the plan. Everything has been going good up to this point with nothing more than a short chase and dominate display over territory with no harm to the other fish. The last two weeks I have lost 4 fish. The first was a small female convict. I had a male and two females in the tank and a pair formed. I first thought the pair beat up and killed the lone female. A few days later the other female convict was found dead and she had been severely beaten. Then a few days later the second largest dovii was missing during the morning feeding. I didnt see anything in the tank or outside on the floor so I left for work. That night he was out when I got home but he was badly beaten and didnt make it thru the night. I figured the largest midas who is the tank boss or one of the dovii was to blame. He was the second largest dovii and third largest in the tank so had to be one or the other. No marks on any of the other fish to indicate a fight broke out and he lost. It looked more like the attacker went after him so fast and vicious he didnt even get a chance to fight back.

A few more days go by and the third largest dovii is missing during the routine feeding. I couldnt find a body anywhere in or out of the tank. Again all the fish have no signs or marks of a fight. After a few hours the missing dovii got pushed from his hiding spot and he was badly beaten like the other one. The only fish that paid any attention to him was the largest dovii. He went over and attacked him a couple times while I was getting the net and bucket to remove him. I got him out and euthanized him. I measured him at just short of 8”. He was the third largest and the largest dovii is quite a bit bulkier and had 1” or more in length on him When they would swim by each other.

I think the largest dovii might be the culprit in all the attacks and killings. The two largest midas are about the same size as he is and the solid color midas is tank boss with the big dovii second. The only fish that attacked a fish was the largest dovii before I could pull the badly beaten one from the tank.

Everything was going very good until this point and I thought I had another week or two for the fish to be pulled and moved on to new homes. This tank changed over night and even now theres little to no aggression displayed between fish and no fights. When the lights go out the big male dovii turns into a different fish.

Here are some pics of the fish.

Three pics of the largest dovii.




Two pics of the midas thats the tank boss.



The other midas. Same size as the tank boss.



Pic showing the fourth largest dovii, male convict and the piebald midas. This was a day or two after the dovii getting killed. You can see in the pic the fish has no fin damage or body damage from fighting. I have a feeling the dovii in this pic will be the next target. They all looked like that no fin damage or bite marks then the next day found brutally beaten.

 

[newworld]

Yes the male Dovii killed the female Dovii I would put way more hiding places maybe it could’ve been avoided ?

 

[LDPatton]

Yes the male Dovii killed the female Dovii I would put way more hiding places maybe it could’ve been avoided ?

I never intended on keeping them together. I only planned on growing them out to the point I could pick the best looking male. Like I said in the post I was getting ready to start pulling fish when this all started. If I would have started pulling fish 2 weeks ago they would have been alive. With the holidays I decided to put it off until now but the male dovii snapped overnight. The tank is still calm and no fighting. That male changes into mr hyde when the lights go out. I dont think any of them are female they all have spotting in the un paired fins.

 

[duanes]

We aquarists often think of a 300 gal tank as quite large, but 300 gallons to a dovii it is a mere puddle, compared to its natural haunts.
And....no surprise here..... it seems your less than "half gown" alpha is on a more accelerated shedule than you, to it, your timing doesn't fit in iits plan.
Once all its conspecific competition is thwarted, as it grows (and it has a lot of growing to do) I believe it will begin eliminating all the other species (and it can), ending up being the sole owner and resident of the tank, unless it takes a liking to some other fish and fancies it as a toy to bat around. Or
Unless you find a copasetic hot to trot female,

 

[LDPatton]

Duanes I agree. They have been so calm I didnt expect to have any problems in the next couple weeks as I pulled fish out. Thats how fast things change with aggressive fish and if you play the game of having potentially aggressive fish housed together you may not get a chance to save a fish before its killed.

My plan has always been to have just the best male dovii from the group in the 300 gallon tank alone. I have a different tank for the midas and texas. They were all so small when I bought them I figured they could grow out a little in the 300 before any problems. So to make sure everyone understands these fish were not going to be housed together long term. I just thought I had a week or more to move them based on how they have been doing. This can be a lesson to anyone who wants to keep aggressive fish together. The tank might look calm and the fish might act like they are fine with each other but things can change very fast.

 

[duanes]

I think this is a great as an educational thread.
So many people post questions like.....How long will I be able to keep so and so fish together in a 100 gal, or less tank?
or How long will my new dovii last in my 75?
This is a reality check, with a tank as large as a 300 gal, where you expected reality.

 

[FahakaPapa]

I've never kept a Dovii, but I've read a lot about them. The only tank mate I would suggest would be a female, but would keep a divider between them until I was confident they were "into" each other. I consider them just like I do puffers - Keep them alone for the most part.

I once kept a Hogaboomorum that would try to kill anything in it's tank (I didn't know what it was when it was small). Once it was bigger I moved it to it's own tank. I highly doubt a Dovii is less aggressive, so I'm sure it would act the same way or worse.

I do love that Dovii and Midas tho!