Not monster, but the same thing could happen to any fish.

[RandomAlgae]

I just lost a ~10" Green terror(Andinoacara rivulatus) today to a head trauma.

Lately he has been chased around by the now larger ~14" Flagtail(Semaprochilodus insignis) and ~10 Silver cichlid(Vieja argentea) but since the pond is large compared to the fish size I wasn't worried.

The pond is 2.5m × 4.2m and 1.2 deep for reference (~8ft × ~14ft × 4ft). There is a concrete ramp in the pond so that is what I assume he swam into which cause his head trauma.

If a Green terror can die to an accident like this what about much larger fish capable greater speed ?

Just something to keep in mind when designing a monsters pond.

 

[tlindsey]

I just lost a ~10" Green terror(Andinoacara rivulatus) today to a head trauma.

Lately he has been chased around by the now larger ~14" Flagtail(Semaprochilodus insignis) and ~10 Silver cichlid(Vieja argentea) but since the pond is large compared to the fish size I wasn't worried.

The pond is 2.5m × 4.2m and 1.2 deep for reference (~8ft × ~14ft × 4ft). There is a concrete ramp in the pond so that is what I assume he swam into which cause his head trauma.

If a Green terror can die to an accident like this what about much larger fish capable greater speed ?

Just something to keep in mind when designing a monsters pond.

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View attachment 1495913

Sorry for your loss.
Definitely have to cover all situations in a man made build.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Our sympathies. And thank you for the post and the warning.

I don't see any damage on the fish's head, snout or mouth. This coupled with cichlid's excellent eye sight leads me to think the cause of death was not a blunt head trauma.

From our experience and memory, we lost dorado catfish B. rousseauxii and false piraiba B. capapretum to bolting and hitting walls. We had two marbled pim catfish break their skulls from running into walls but surviving. We likely lost 2 paroon sharks in a similar way. Arowana when they hunt or fight can sometimes hit a wall or a tank brace badly, leading to drop eye as one of the nasty consequences. Arapaima do it often too but suffer no damage.

I also recall a video just shown to me by JasonsPlecosCichlids where someone used a flash to take a photo of the 6.3 million gallon tank at Georgia Aquarium and this seemed to have spooked a huge tuna from hundreds of feet away, who ran full speed into the front glass, spewing out clouds of blood and died.

 

[duanes]

I have found that Maskaheros argentea (formerly Vieja) are very intolerant of any other cichlid within their eyeshot, so much so, that they will kill them, and have the ability to do so with even larger cichlids, at first glance once males become old enough to be territorial.
And I doubt that size pond would be considered a large territory for that particular species.