FishProfiles.com Message Forums |
| faq | etiquette | register | my account | search | mailbox |
 | modifying agression? |
Theresa_M        Moderator Queen of Zoom Posts: 3649 Kudos: 4280 Votes: 790 Registered: 04-Jan-2004    | Discussion with lfs employees the other day: if a known-to-be SA/CA agressive cichlid is added to a peaceful tank when small (young) will it be peaceful at maturity? In other words, can environment change temperament? Thought it was an interesting concept and wondered what others think about it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is water at the bottom of the ocean |
 Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 |      |
sirbooks Moderator Sociopath Posts: 3875 Kudos: 5164 Votes: 932 Registered: 26-Jul-2004   | Hmmm, I don't know for sure, but it sounds like a very interesting experiment. My opinion is that the aggressive fish would tend to be more peaceful than normal, but not totally free from aggressive tendencies. |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 |  |
DoctorJ Big Fish Posts: 344 Kudos: 1159 Votes: 191 Registered: 13-May-2003  | An interesting idea. My hypothesis would be that nature, not nurture would win out. It's hard to imagine that a few years living in a peaceful aquarium is going to undo years of hard-wired beahviour. With these fish, natural selection has tended to favour those that could take care of themselves in an aggressive world. Last edited by DoctorJ at 04-Oct-2004 15:50 |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 | |
| chapman76 Hobbyist Posts: 91 Kudos: 68 Votes: 0 Registered: 28-Apr-2004 | I agree that the fish will still be aggressive. What I've seen is fish raised together from juvies are more tolerant of one another, but any newcomers beware. The fish's genes are "programed" to be a certain way over hundreds and thousands of years so I don't seen an environment making a really noticable difference. |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 | |
| mitcheese Small Fry Posts: 14 Kudos: 14 Votes: 0 Registered: 06-Sep-2004 | i have done this with a firemouth and a jack dempsey, and they grew up to be way more peaceful than they are suppose to be, but they were still aggressive to their own species. they left other species alone though. |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 |  |
Jason_R_S Moderator Posts: 2811 Kudos: 2421 Votes: 391 Registered: 18-Apr-2001  | it can help to curb aggression by purchasing the fish from a very small size and growing it up with other fish. in this manner you might be able to keep some of the more aggressive cichlids (jag, midas, red devil, trimac, etc.) with smaller less aggressive fish. however, the cichlid will still develop its own personality and will still be aggressive to some degree. growing up together basically might make them a little more tolerant...you still have to be very careful though and a large enough tank for the fish to have adequate territory and feel comfortable.  |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 | |
sumthin_fishy Enthusiast Posts: 237 Kudos: 314 Votes: 16 Registered: 13-Aug-2004  | i think results will really vary because i really do belive that each fish has its own temprement. iv seen full grown oscars tear up tanks and i have also seen full grown oscars live in harmony with their feeder goldfish in planted tanks! i have also successfuly kept a RTBS pairs in a relatively confined space while other times it hasnt worked. i think it would be a really interesting experiment too, but i also think the results should be taken as a case by case basis not a general rule of thumb  goodluck to any who wants to try it, let us know how it goes! |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 | |
| bayara Hobbyist Posts: 139 Kudos: 117 Votes: 14 Registered: 30-Aug-2004 | i personally think keeping young fish in a peaceful tank would modify aggression - when i was much younger and didn't know any better, i once had a 10g tank with plattys, guppies and a RTBS. of course the RTBS was still a little aggressive, but he didn't kill any other fish |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 | |
| inkodinkomalinko Fish Guru Posts: 2441 Kudos: 833 Registered: 18-Jan-2003 | I agree, but to a certain level. I think it'll always have that little aggression, and can sometimes snap at the fish when stressed. I have kept convicts with angels..firemouths with angels..oscars with gouramis..etc..usually I only get away with this when the peaceful fish are in the tank and the aggressive fish introduced much later. |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:01 | |
 | |
| Jump to: |
The views expressed on this page are the implied opinions of their respective authors.
Under no circumstances do the comments on this page represent the opinions of the staff of FishProfiles.com.
FishProfiles.com Forums, version 11.0
Mazeguy Smilies