Wolf groups....... Does everything change?

[DB junkie]

I'm speaking in regards to the real wolves (Hoplias)........

Do things change when they are raised in a group? Is that group more prone to attack things that a single or pair of fish normally wouldn't even think about?

Is this the same thing as Piranhas? One fish no big deal but a group may look at tank mates differently?

I'm raising a group of Iguaza/Mbiguas and they seem bold, much bolder then my single fish I suspect to be the same species.

My Aimara has been attacked. I thought at first Tatf but looking more at the wound I'm fearing that the other Wolves may have turned on the single Aimara.

Will try to get some pics of the wounds to see what you guys think.

I think I may have raised a very volitile untrustworthy MONSTER with this group......... Who would have thought an Aimara to be on the loosing end of anything?

 

[kno4te]

Let's see some pics.

 

[Red Aimara]

Perhaps. My two Malas despite the size differences do not engage each other at all. Waiting for them to reach larger sizes and by then maybe some sort of behavioral pattern may surface.

I wouldn't mind getting another Mala actually (bioload permitting) but taking my time to pick something different. Currently the smaller Mala is brown based all the time while the larger one has always exhibit sliver / blue / green tones.

Perhaps collected from difference sources.

 

[kno4te]

Same group of fish are from Argentina right?

 

[KNH]

I don't have the wolf experience you have but that's interesting. Some fish are certainly less aggressive or their aggression is in check by keeping them in a group. Seems you are having the opposite happen, more of pack mentality where they are emboldened by the others

 

[DB junkie]

These things are tight, as in they act as a group. Feeding time comes and they just get crazy. Every other tank I have ATF in they eat first. These things have zero respect for anything at feeding time.

Last week the dominant Tatf received a big bite to the mid section. Thought it was the Aimara but now I'm assuming it was these guys......

These are the "CF Panara Lacs" NOT the Green eyed Lacs.

I had to remove these guys from the 300 in my living room after one swallowed an Odoe that was only a few inches smaller then that wolf itself. That is the first "incident" that made me wonder what the hell these things are up to. I've never ever seen any wolf attempt a "gulper" size meal before. I cut big chunks of food up for my Armatus and for years my other wolves will shy away from food too big to swallow whole. I'm wondering if these things are thinking they can rip stuff apart as a group??? Maybe it's time to toss a whole fillet in for the name of science??? LOL

IF this IS indeed the case, NOTHING would be safe.

I'm wondering if it really is possible that these things are pack hunters where as the other larger species like Aimara are lone wolves....... I've seen mild tussles with all my dis-similar wolf species, heck the golds I had wanted to kill each other. These things have NEVER fought amongst themselves and they are always in a group together. Almost seems like the more I move them around the tighter the group gets. Maybe I'm just loosing my mind......

There HAS to be more people out there with these wolves. How are other people's behaving? I imagine probably just like the lone one I have that was acquired long before this group.....

 

[moe214]

Interesting, would like to see pics as well. It is very possible to me, that they'd form a pack type hierarchy, and help eachother out. My wolf tries defending a bichir, so imagine two wolves trying to defend one another, let alone a larger group. If there's one wolf species that form a type of pack I wouldn't doubt others forming one, maybe you need more aimaras to even out that problem lol. And if your odoe, a slimmer bodied fish, was a few inches smaller, and wolves having large mouths, should be pretty assume le that it'd be consumable. I don't think many people have kept as many wolves as you in general let alone the amount you keep at once and together. I'd do it if I had the space and money. But your average person wouldn't try it. And maybe your single specimen will get bolder as he catches up to others in size. If you toss a whole fillet in it may be a waist, or it may be interesting.

 

[Woefulrelic]

I'd say fast them and video the full fillet going in but I feel like there would be ramifications for this.

 

[DB junkie]

The almost healed already bite on the Tatf, the Aimara wound (couldn't get the bottom part under it's jaw), and 3/4 of the lil demons sitting under the feeding spot. Just tapped on the top of the tank and they come out in formation..... lol

 

[moe214]

I think the bit on the aimara would be wider if it were them, or maybe because it's in a pic and not person I don't know the actual size of them or their mouths to tell how big the bite would be, cause whatever did get ahold of him looks to have gotten ahold completely. When my curupira bites my odoe it is very obvious it's him cause you'll see two circular bite marks the width of him. I also think that the part that looks stabbed and is hanging is an atf tooth mark, looks to deep for a wolf fish tooth. But I have never kept an atf to say how they bite a fish, that being said if that whole wound on the top and bottom of him is one bite, that looks to big to be from a thin atf, though it looks scraped causing it to become wider which is I a imagine an atf doing, wolves have no problem with grabbing a fish larger than themselves and hold on. The healing bite marks in the atf, looks quite small as well and in a large number, I believe you have three atf in this tank, correct me if I'm wrong. So maybe it was fighting another. Or maybe since they've healed mostly my judgement is off. Very hard call on both fish's wounds. I say don't point any fingers till you catch someone in the act. But you can usually tell a wolf bite from another fishes bite easily, like before one of my bichirs were bitten once, it was very obvious it was the odoe, the bite mark was long and slender like the odoes mouth, now when the wolf bites the odoe, it's a large circle basically. I'll try to get a picture when they get into a fight one day, but that's not to often so that they get into one of that severity atleast, usually the wolf flares and the odoe swims off, but sometimes he gets annoyed and fights back I guess lol.