When will this peace end?

[skjl47]

Hello; I have heard from fishing shows that fish have triggers based on instinct. Some claim a strike is sometimes due to such a trigger and not by hunger. That being said and if such is actually the case, then it seems such triggers might occur in a home aquarium.

It might be of interest if any fishkeepers have ideas as to what such triggers might be from their observations.

If this line of thought has any validity, then the "peace " might be broken by such a trigger. I have had some success by adding plants or structure near the center of a tank that limits line of sight to some extent. In addition I have set up structure at opposite ends of a tank to encourage fish to make territories as far apart as possible.

The size of the tank can often be too small to prevent overlapping territories. Just thinking while i type.

 

[BrookKeeper]

Hello; I have heard from fishing shows that fish have triggers based on instinct. Some claim a strike is sometimes due to such a trigger and not by hunger. That being said and if such is actually the case, then it seems such triggers might occur in a home aquarium.

It might be of interest if any fishkeepers have ideas as to what such triggers might be from their observations.

If this line of thought has any validity, then the "peace " might be broken by such a trigger. I have had some success by adding plants or structure near the center of a tank that limits line of sight to some extent. In addition I have set up structure at opposite ends of a tank to encourage fish to make territories as far apart as possible.

The size of the tank can often be too small to prevent overlapping territories. Just thinking while i type.

From my observations of aggression among trout, line of sight is key... or obstructing that line of sight i should say... or holding completely still, if the alpha has a line of sight on you... sometimes just a single fin twitch is enough to get the alpha's attention, and a second will que a response charge. If the subordinate reacts by freezing, often times the alpha will back off to his former position without contact, but if the subordinate flinches or flees, it is all over... the chase is on.

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

I agree to both the above posts , the trigger is key.....and more so for the aggressive fish the line of sight leads to tension.....one of the methods is to break it with driftwoods , plants and hiding places

 

[cichlidsickness]

Can we see some pics of the tank?

 

[qguy]

My tank has 2 large flat rocks, dividing the tank into 3 sections and reducing visibility of its neighbors... as for triggers, i noticed that watere changes triggered my male red terror and dovii to murder their females partner, The Red terror lived for several years after, my late dovii stopped eating after the death of the female, he lasted a few weeks...

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

My tank has 2 large flat rocks, dividing the tank into 3 sections and reducing visibility of its neighbors... as for triggers, i noticed that watere changes triggered my male red terror and dovii to murder their females partner, The Red terror lived for several years after, my late dovii stopped eating after the death of the female, he lasted a few weeks...

Sorry about that.....sounds very gruesome..
Did the Dovii and the red terror pair share the same space....or were in separate tanks.
I believe in your case , water change triggered spawn behavior in the males , while the respective females were not ready....and voila all hell broke loose.

 

[qguy]

Happened at separate times, both were in 6 ft long, 100g tanks