I'll start by saying that I do not fight my fish for entertainment. And this was not intentional.
Last night I had to move my 5" bumblebee cat out of his tank. I thought that I would try to put him in with my 4" red devil in her grow out 30 gallon as a temporary measure. The devil has a pot for hiding in, but also will wedge herself under the two hydosponges.
I acclimated the cat and put him in, at which point he headed straight for the hydosponges. The devil had been hiding during the commotion, and did not come out for the first couple of minutes afetr the introduction of the cat, so I thought all was well. I would check back in a little while.
Well, maybe twenty minutes later I checked back to find the below scene. The devil would stick her head under the sponges to go at the cat and the cat would answer with a mouth agape display. The devil would then grab the cat by the lip and a lip locking struggle would ensue.
I quickly rinsed out a spare 10 gallon I keep, added gravel, a hydrosponge and a heater, took 10 gallons of water from the devil's tank, and transferred the cat into his own holding tank.
There was no visible damage to the cat, and only a single dislodged scale from the devil.
This is what I learned, or confirmed: I make bad decisions from time to time, red devils are territorial, and bumblebee cats are tough.
Last night I had to move my 5" bumblebee cat out of his tank. I thought that I would try to put him in with my 4" red devil in her grow out 30 gallon as a temporary measure. The devil has a pot for hiding in, but also will wedge herself under the two hydosponges.
I acclimated the cat and put him in, at which point he headed straight for the hydosponges. The devil had been hiding during the commotion, and did not come out for the first couple of minutes afetr the introduction of the cat, so I thought all was well. I would check back in a little while.
Well, maybe twenty minutes later I checked back to find the below scene. The devil would stick her head under the sponges to go at the cat and the cat would answer with a mouth agape display. The devil would then grab the cat by the lip and a lip locking struggle would ensue.
I quickly rinsed out a spare 10 gallon I keep, added gravel, a hydrosponge and a heater, took 10 gallons of water from the devil's tank, and transferred the cat into his own holding tank.
There was no visible damage to the cat, and only a single dislodged scale from the devil.
This is what I learned, or confirmed: I make bad decisions from time to time, red devils are territorial, and bumblebee cats are tough.
