Cacatuoides pair reintroduction suggestions

[dhulsey]

Hello!

Bought a pair of cacatuoides knowing less than I probably should have.. They quite liked their new 20g long, and within 3 days chased down all the neocaradina in the tank and spawned in the central cave!

For 3 weeks post-spawn the female would chase the male away first from the cave and then the fry she was herding. Over the course of a couple of days the female stopped guarding the fry, and the male seemed to take over. The next day the male started aggressively chasing her all the way across the tank, and she began hiding. The following morning she was swimming a little funny, and her fins looked damaged.. At this point I decided to move her into a 5g where she has been recovering ~10 days. The male also became more aggressive towards the 5 otocinclus in the tank and wouldn't give them any rest. I introduced 10 ember tetras - now the male mostly chases the embers around and leaves the otos alone, but follows/leads the fry around the whole tank.

I have a few specific questions, but any input is welcome:
-Should I have moved the male instead? Should I swap male/female now?
-What are the chances the embers are doing their job and I could reintroduce the female without more changes?
-I have a different 20g housing survivor shrimp.. should I move them to use that as a grow out tank for the fry? Fish store said they will buy fry from me at an inch.
-Long term I want to avoid such aggression.. Will having a male & female make that impossible?

This has been a little unexpected and very wild ride. Looking forward to learning more!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Long term I want to avoid such aggression.. Will having a male & female make that impossible?

No, it should be fine. The issue you have is "line of sight", you need a lot more structure, so that line of sight is impeded and the fish can slip away from one another. Basically the more cover you have the better it is for the fish.

I use plants, but structural leaf litter and wood will do.

cheers Darrel

 

[Josh]

I struggle with this too because a "crowded" tank isn't as immediately appealing to the eye. I do love Darrel's tanks as something I could pull a chair up to though and stare into discovering new stuff all the time

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I struggle with this too because a "crowded" tank isn't as immediately appealing to the eye. I do love Darrel's tanks as something I could pull a chair up to though and stare into discovering new stuff all the time

I know what you mean, I don't do aesthetics and I've kept fish for long enough to know that if you give them a good water quality and a good diet that they don't require a lot of intervention.

A lot of people actually laugh at the tanks the first time they see them and are often absolutely amazed that they have fish in them (the "Oak leaf" tank is in the back of one of the teaching labs.) and that the fish are all right.

Often the commenters are worried that the fish "don't have enough swimming room" or that they will be "harmed by all the plants" and "how do I know the fish are all right, if I can't see/count them?".

It is quite interesting because all of the students are taking Biology modules of some description and many of them could be loosely described as "Ecologists".

It has been quite lonely at times. I've been forcibly ejected from one forum for telling people that plants are net oxygen providers and the cycling posts (you don't need to add ammonia, Archaea & COMAMMOX Nitrospira are the most important nitrifiers., oxygen is more important than ammonia etc) have led to a lot of personal abuse, which every now and then ramps up again, even now. I've also been threatened with legal action by a certain purveyor of aquarium products, with a "legal letter" worthy of Ex president Trump, but even more deficient in relevant content.

cheers Darrel

 

[ButtNekkid]

It has been quite lonely at times. I've been forcibly ejected from one forum for telling people that plants are net oxygen providers and the cycling posts (you don't need to add ammonia, Archaea & COMAMMOX Nitrospira are the most important nitrifiers., oxygen is more important than ammonia etc) have led to a lot of personal abuse, which every now and then ramps up again, even now. I've also been threatened with legal action by a certain purveyor of aquarium products, with a "legal letter" worthy of Ex president Trump, but even more deficient in relevant content.

cheers Darrel

Hi,

Care to elaborate a little? PM? This all sounds quite interesting and entertaining.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Care to elaborate a little?

Not really, and I'm not mentioning the company, but the <"linked threads"> (on UKAPS) may also <"entertain you"> and you may be able to join up the dots............

cheers Darrel

 

[dhulsey]

Thanks for all the insight Darrel!

After having a guppy tank as a child (I was quite proud of my great-grand-guppies), inspiration from iwagumi aesthetics and the ease of breeding neocaridina shrimp drew me back into aquariua. The shrimp didn't seem to mind the open spaces while the only inhabitants. I've had a few changes in trajectory, but my hunter cacatoudies have certainly shifted it the most! Have thoroughly enjoyed every step and all the new wonder that goes with each one.

I have been especially fascinated watching plant growth change as introduced across my 3 tanks. It is tempting for me to want total control of "aesthetics" - but (thankfully!) the biology doesn't "cooperate" and pushes me around, forcing me to learn.

The fry have grown considerably and the male has really mellowed out on the aggression in the last week. The female's health is much improved. I may try a reintroduction this weekend, and separate again if the results are not pleasing. Assuming smaller tweaks don't work, long term I will likely transform one of my other tanks into a more heavily planted space as a home for the apistos.

kr, Daniel