[Prev][Next][Index]

Aggression in community tanks



Don,

The loss of the white clouds is unlikely to be caused by the fish you are
keeping eating them (at least while they were alive!). Corydoras and flying
foxes are very peaceful toward smaller fish. Although clown loaches can get
big, I have never heard anyone call them predatory. The red eyes, like all
tetras, are predators on small invertebrates.

I don't know which species you have. If you have the Amazonian fish,
Moenkhausia spp., the fish has a small mouth and is markedly vegetarian
when mature. The African red eye, Arnoldichthys, is a bigger fish with a
large mouth; but by all accounts is very quiet.

Your white cloud losses may be caused by the high temperature of your tank.
Typical community tanks are held at around 72 to 76 degrees Farenheit.
White clouds are warm temperate fish from southern China, and appreciate
temperatures from 60 to 68 degrees F. Kept too warm, they invariably weaken
and fade.

With your set up you would be better off putting the minnows down to
experience and trying some other small fish: for example dwarf barbs,
bleeding heart tetras or perhaps dwarf cichlids like Apistogramma.

You may get a bit of tension between the Flying Fox and Siamese Algae
Eater, but in a big tank with plenty of places to hide, you will probably
be okay. Oddly enough, both these fish shoal with their own kind peacefully
(i.e. a school of six or more).

All the best,

Neale.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

From  Neale Monks' Macintosh PowerBook, at...

Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD
Internet: N.Monks at nhm_ac.uk, Telephone: 0171-938-9007

--------------------------------------------------------------------