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Hello everyone ... back after another long absence.

I've popped in to inform everyone who keeps Jordanella floridae, the Florida Flag Fish, to watch them with particular care if they are occupying an aquarium containing Corydoras species, or fishes with tall dorsal fins bearing black markings such as Black Phantom Tetras.

I'd been wondering for some time why my Panda Corys had started to look ragged around the dorsal fin area, and was about to launch into a full scale treatment for fin rot when the culprit revealed itself. One of the two Flag Fish in that aquarium was caught red-handed taking a nip at my poor Panda Corys' dorsal fins!

For some reason, it's only the dorsal fin that my Flag Fish have aimed their nipping at, the other fins are left intact, but since I spotted this, the two Flag Fish have been moved to the other aquarium.

Part of the problem might have been the fact that I had two males in there, as opposed to a male/female pair. Well, just in case this is a manifestation of frustration on their part because Spring is in the air and they're lacking females to court, my moving them to the other aquarium should solve that problem, because they have six females in there to choose from to mate with.

Plus, they won't be tempted to nip at the SAEs, because the SAEs are now huge, they're 5 inches long each, and so they're well able to look after themselves!

So, anyone out there with Flag Fish, keep an eye on them, and watch for nippy behaviour, particularly aimed at fishes with flag-like black dorsal fins. If you've been having trouble with fishes in this class bearing ragged fins, and you have Flag Fish in there with them, watch and see if the Flag Fish are the culprits as mine were, and think about a relocation if you see them misbehaving like this.

Despite this problem, I still recommend Flag Fish if you have a surface algal mat problem (i.e., something that resembles the dreaded blanket weed seen in ponds) because if you have such an algal problem, Flag Fish are superb at dealing with it - they've nuked all traces of such in my aquaria, and their efficiency at demolishing thread algae of this sort is second to none in my experience. Just be careful what other fishes you mix them with as a result of my latest observation.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

its funny you say that cal.my old flags use to give my bns fins a bit of a nip every now and then..

Ah - were these BNs small or a decent size? Only if yours were bigger than the Flag Fish, this is something else I'll have to factor into the database as it were.

I've noticed that they don't bother my SAEs, but then my SAEs are a LOT bigger than the Flag Fish, and have plenty of refuges to call upon if any trouble arises. Mind you, when it comes to feeding time, despite the fact that my Flag Fish are still juveniles, they don't let the SAE's push them out of the way when the food hits the water - it's amusing to see these little guys right up there at the front of the queue, not in the least bit fazed by the fact that they're sharing their aquarium with my monster SAEs!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002