I was wondering why there are scratches on the body of my Vieja melanura, which is the dominant fish in the tank. I only saw him push around two other comparable sized fish, a male green terror and a Vieja fenestratus, and the rest of the fish are too small to challenge his dominance. So I was wondering who can possibly pick on him.
This afternoon, I watched the fish with the hood light off, and to my surprise, the male GT became the dominant fish, and chased the melanura which became submissive. So I turned on the hood light to observe clearer. Almost instantly, the melanura returned dominant, and the GT turned submissive. I turned the light on and off a few more times, and the pecking order reversed instantly from aggression to submission as if the two fish were controlled by toggle switch.
I am bewildered by the reversal of aggression and submission by toggling on and off the light. Can someone explain what's happening.
This afternoon, I watched the fish with the hood light off, and to my surprise, the male GT became the dominant fish, and chased the melanura which became submissive. So I turned on the hood light to observe clearer. Almost instantly, the melanura returned dominant, and the GT turned submissive. I turned the light on and off a few more times, and the pecking order reversed instantly from aggression to submission as if the two fish were controlled by toggle switch.
I am bewildered by the reversal of aggression and submission by toggling on and off the light. Can someone explain what's happening.
