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SubscribeCardinal attacking bristlenose
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Fingerling
Posts: 21
Kudos: 15
Votes: 2
Registered: 25-Jul-2006
Hi I wonder if anyone else there has seen this, but today i noticed my 2" bristle nose had the white tip of his tailfin missing I wondered and thought notheing of it. Then I decided to give her a snack on some cucumber and away she went. Then just as she was chowing down i saw one of my cardinals only (2-3months old) nipping at her tail fin. I've never heard of cardinals doing this has anyone else?

I was wondering if it may be because I gave my tank a 2.5 day fast with the lights off, what does anyone think?
I love my little bristle nose and want him to grow to full size.
it seemed to be only one but i geuss the others could have as well (i have 7 cardinals)
Post InfoPosted 03-Nov-2006 05:13Profile PM Edit Report 
Calilasseia
 
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*Ultimate Fish Guru*
Panda Funster
Posts: 5496
Kudos: 2828
Votes: 731
Registered: 10-Feb-2003
male uk

I have to say that this is the first instance I've ever encountered of Cardinals misbehaving like this.

What else is in the aquarium? Give the following details in another post:

[1] Tank dimesnions length x width x height (this is more informative than bare volume, and volume can be computed from these figures in any case);

[2] Full inventory of current inhabitants of the aquarium;

[3] Furnishing details.

If you have a photo of the aquarium you can link to, this will be even better.

One thought that springs to mind at this point is this: if you think your Cardinals are getting nippy because they are hungry, try feeding them at the same time as the Bristlenose. Hopefully they'll be too busy chomping on their own food to cause any future problems of this kind. However, I am somewhat at a loss over this, as I've been keeping Cardinals now for 11 years and haven't encountered ANY nipping problems with them at all ... though I HAVE encountered some odd Cardinal behaviour, my cave dwelling Cardinal being a particular favourite!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002
Post InfoPosted 03-Nov-2006 18:54Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Fingerling
Posts: 21
Kudos: 15
Votes: 2
Registered: 25-Jul-2006
Calilasseia interesting that you have never had problems as I said from what I've read they are good fish to put with mellower fish like discus. I geuss the thought that comes to my mind is that it is only one and maybe it's just got an anti social personality disorder, i mean there has to be a proportion of fish that don't behave, there certainly is with other animals (i like to think fish have some sort of personality)

I hope it was due to the fast as i had been feeding them a little heavy for a week or so before and have seen no nipping today just an ugly chunk out of bristly's tail.

ph6.2-6.5
kh 1
gh 4
amm 0
nitrite0
nitrate 10
well the tank is 36"L , 18"H, 14"W
7 cardinals
7 rummynose
2 dwarf gourami
1 bristle nose
2 julli/trin corys
1 golden panchax
1 zebra danio
over filtered with fluval 305 (rated @1000lph)
large piece malayasian driftwood
small volcanic rock cave
4 different type of plants Anubias,corkscrew vail, amazon sword and another i can't remember, resonably well planted
Post InfoPosted 04-Nov-2006 01:10Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Calilasseia
 
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*Ultimate Fish Guru*
Panda Funster
Posts: 5496
Kudos: 2828
Votes: 731
Registered: 10-Feb-2003
male uk
The only time I've seen anything remotely resembling aggressive behaviour in Cardinals is odd sparring matches between rival males, and a female that decided that she wasn't too keen on the suitor of the moment who basically told him where to get off. Other than that, my Cardinals have been as mild mannered as it's possible for fishes to be. If they were going to launch into a spate of nipping fins, my Otocinclus would be shredded by mow, and again, they've been happy and healthy with intact fins (says he, hoping that doing so isn't going to tempt Fate!) for the best part of 6 years, which is (if I recall correctly) when I bought the last of my current batch of []Otocinclus.

However, I've said to many people here on this Board that fish do not read the textbooks, and that when you keep fish, you should be aware of the possibility that some of your specimens may exhibit odd behaviours. Little was I to know I'd be caught on the hook of my own advice ... I do have to say, however, that what you've seen is VERY unusual. Perhaps you happen to have a rogue fish: I had an episode like this with Beckford's Pencil Fishes a couple of years ago, where my "peaceful shoaling fishes" (which is how ALL the textbooks describe Beckford's Pencils) started behaving more like Melanochromis chipokae Cichlids than Characins, and the males set about systematically exterminating my females, before turning their attentions on each other until there was just the one left standing at the end of the war of attrition. Absolutely NOWHERE in any of the books will you see anything like this documented with Beckford's Pencil Fishes: I've since come to the conclusion that it's a bad idea to let these fishes become the dominant fishes in the aquarium, because their behaviour changes as if a switch has been thrown the moment they sense that they ARE the dominant fishes. Additionally, I would advise people to keep this species with something like 3 females to each male minimum, and in a setup smaller than a 48" aquarium, I would stick to just one male and the rest females just to make sure. Additionally, I'd keep them in a community setup alongside something such as a Pearl Gourami, that could act as a faux predator whose purpose is to be the dominant fish and keep the Beckford's schooling.

Again, you won't find my cave dwelling Cardinal mantioned in any of the books, though I worked out why it was doing this: the fish in question was a male, and whenever a nice, rounded Cardinal that looked female swam past the opening, he tried to entice her into the darkness for, presumably, a spot of spawning. Which makes sense when you realise that Cardinals spawn in near-total darkness in the wild

Oh, and if you can, I'd increase your Cory numbers to 6. Trade in that lone danio (or find it a home with a friend who already owns a decent size shoal where it'll be a LOT happier), find another home for the Golden Panchax to make room for the extra Corys, and the balance will be somewhat better.

Given that your furnishings include a cave (which I presume the Bristlenose has claimed as its own), it's again somewhat surprising that your Bristlenose is under attack. Perhaps a couple more caves to give it a range of hiding places will help - which will also come in handy if you increase the Cory numbers, by the way.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002
Post InfoPosted 04-Nov-2006 02:26Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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