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Hi everyone!

I don't know wether this feud was over hunger, territory or just a spot in the picture(I was actually taking a picture of the java fern!)...riney has been a little overfeisty lately.

Let me know what you think if you please.

James

Attached Image:

Rineloricaria sp. chasing off Caridina japonica

I think it was just a coincidence.........or maybe he thought since the shrimp was there, there must be some good eatin?

What is there to discuss? The Shrimp clearly won, we're talking 3 or 4 full shrimp lenghts or 1-2 Rinos.

This should have never come down to a photofinish if u ask me.

Almost all plecs and relatives are capable of taking a little animal protien on occassion, but some, as is probably the case here, are protective about their feeding grounds, some fish even crop them in rotation and give the feeding ground loose protection as it grows back.

Seen plecs shift shrimp loads of times. Is just like birds arguing at a bird table.

Thanks LHG,

I have seen some demonstration of territorial behaviour from behalf of that same rineloricaria towards the other individual.

I wondered if it had developed a taste for meat since they got accustumed to eating BWs from the bottom when I fed the other fish.

I'll monitor his behaviour closely in order to assess the need of another tank or separating the pair altogether.

Thanks again!

James

Territoriality in these species is odd, in nature they are rarely so, the vast rivers and lakes have so much sunlight and so much food theres little reason to be competetive, even the most enourmous plecs swim and feed, browsing in rows and large shoals on occassion , but in tanks where they become acutely aware of a limited food supply, even a small plec or riney might kick off at the other algae eaters. Plecs have been known to fight each other to exhaustion and death, though its not that common. My BN's for example are laid back, but ive had common plecs and a few others that wont share a tank with a shrimp, let alone another plec.

Plecs are capable of a whole range of behaviours that people dont expect of them, far more social in open water, but when they get trapped by the dry season, or caught in oxbow lakes as they begin to clog with vegetation, the plecs can turn aggressive and territorial in the fight for survival. A lot of peoples plecs consider the tank their are in to have potential similarity to a small water source in the dry season, and they react accordingly. They will do what they think it takes to survive, and that includes protecting their rights to every available patch of algae, and if a stomach full of animal protiens and fats is what gets you through 6 months with no rain and the pools are too muddy for algae, thats what you eat.

Basically in aquaria some plecs may experience an almost permanent state of "survival mode".