Two Blacks fighting?

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DaveB

DaveB

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2008
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Miami
I know that two silvers in a tank together is a bad idea but what about two blacks?

I had a trio, but someone killed one last night. The other two are beat up pretty good too. They're 12".

I partitioned off the most likely offender but I'm trying to find a separate tank to put the Aros in just in case. But now I've got a new concern too, which is what if they start to fight each other?

When there were three they were happy schooling fish. But I've got no idea how they'll behave now as a pair.

This makes me so mad. They've been in the tank for a month with no problem and then yesterday they had fin damage and today one got killed. I haven't seen a single attack on them either, it all happens overnight. I'm about ready to feed the lussoso to my dogs, except I have no proof that it's him.

Anyway, they're going to live with peaceful south americans as soon as I pick up my giant tanks, so my main concern is whether a pair of them will get along. They seem fine, but then again so did the trio and look what happened...
 
Uh oh, one just nipped at and chased the other one. It was just a quick chase and they've been hanging out peacefully all morning, but maybe the damage has been due to black vs. black fighting.

It's actually the smaller one chasing the larger one, which is surprising.

Looks like I'll have one for sale soon. I just want to get them both healthy first.
 
DaveB;3135616; said:
Uh oh, one just nipped at and chased the other one. It was just a quick chase and they've been hanging out peacefully all morning, but maybe the damage has been due to black vs. black fighting.

It's actually the smaller one chasing the larger one, which is surprising.

Looks like I'll have one for sale soon. I just want to get them both healthy first.
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one odd nip or chase makes no difference.most of the people with 2 aros face the odd nipping or chasing i guess.my 2 aros do this all the time. but the good thing for me is that there is no dominant aro.sometimes the bigger one is the chaser and sometimes the smaller one. if they seriously start to fighr each other all the time then it might be a problem for u
 
Yeah, it was more like simple dominance type play. I saw him open his mouth once, but only a bit. Seems like they'd need to open that thing way up to do any real damage.

Still, the fact that only the bottom fins and none of the tops are damaged makes me wonder if maybe that is what's happening... makes sense with the way their mouths open. I guess I'll see what happens overnight tonight with the other possible killer divided off. If it gets worse I'll know who's to blame. I just hope there's not another murder.

Or maybe I'll just have someone come over and buy one. That'd work too. Unless the killer is not one of the suspects, in which case I then have just one Aro as a target...
 
From what you describe the injuries sound typical of fighting aros. Damage is done from repeated nipping.

Having a trio is no guarantee and seem that odds are about 50% that work. Still better the approx 33% odds of a pair working. Best thing is to separate them and return them to health. Once you get you other large tanks that you have coming you can work on reintroducing them.
 
Is it common for them to get along for a while and then suddenly start fighting? Perhaps it's a sign of adolescence? They're 12" and had been OK together for about a month (and longer before that, though with many others as well in a 75). No damage whatsoever. Then one day I woke up to nipped fins and the next a dead fish and two others with damage. That's a very sudden change in behavior.
 
my afro was like that but suddenly he stopped being aggressive,it just feels really great not to see lost scales and shredded fin
 
I'm still selling one. My original intent was only to get one anyway so being back to one is still OK. I'm just sick of constant stress about aggression. They appear to have fought a bit while I was out for dinner and drinks and I just want peace. The Lusosso gets donated tomorrow - he can be a jerk even if he wasn't the killer - and this guy will get sold to a good home to heal up, and I'll have a simple tank of dats and one single distichodus and some balas. I may delay the plan to massively upgrade this tank and just do Amazon in the 415 (with the aro, of course) and just keep mostly dats in this one. I'm tired of being awake at night wondering if every splash I hear is a fish fight.
 
if there is constant fighting and fin damage its best to just sell on of your aros. when i first got my 2 silver aros they would fight a little but i decided to just give them some time. although the fin damage wasnt all that severe in my case,that gave me the courage to see if they get along in the next few days. but i think that the aros are less aggressive when they get older and are more aggressive at the younger age.
 
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