Loaches Online Forum

Hello...,

A few weeks ago, I had a lucky stroke and acquired a trio of Botia Sidthimunki from another hobbyist who was downsizing. I added them to my 55 Gallon Loach and Rainbowfish tank. Right away, they began gaining weight, and have been an entertaining and lively additions to this community.

Of the Rainbowfish, I have 3 Celebese, 1 mature Male Melanotaenia Parva, a Male Melanotaenia Bosemani, and a female M. Parkinsoni. In the last week or so, the Male Parva has really coloured up, and has taken sudden interest in the female Parkinsoni. He began chasing and nipping her, driving her to the bottom levels of the tank. At first, I was not too concerned, especially upon noting that the female of Parva looks very much like the female Parkinsoni. But before I went away for 2 days for Christmas, I noticed her condition had deteriorated. Her fins were looking very ragged, and she was looking haggard all around. But I was horrified at what I saw when I returned. Her tail was almost gone; her fins reduced to mere stubs, her scales peeling off.

Then my boyfriend (who is also active in the hobby) and I made an even stranger discovery last night: the Botia Sids were nipping at her!! This does not look like cleaning behaviour, which was our first guess. They are targeting and aggressively nipping at any part of her body they can get ahold of; her tail, her fins, her lips, her body, and now she is too lethargic to do much about it. The Parva has been leaving her alone. This behaviour is continuing as we speak, and now we are holding her in a large net inside the main tank to keep the other fish away. She seems to be relaxing here. I cannot put her in QT by herself, because when I first got her, she was bashing her head and body against objects in the tank until pieces of her skin were coming off. This behaviour stopped when I bought the three Celebese (who had been in the tank with her at the store).

I am now wondering if anyone else has noted this behaviour in their Sids. They seem to be seeking out this fish to target in her weakened state, and have even investigated the net she is being held in. This might sound odd, but these little guys are smart. If I swished my finger in front of the tank, the Parkinsoni was not bothered while the sids would bolt. They seem to know somehow they are engaging in inappropriate behaviour.

It has become clear that these cannot be housed together. In an emergency move, we transferred her to my daughter's Guppy tank, where the water conditions are the same. Immediately upon introducing her, two Amano Shrimp immediately attatched themselves and started cleaning her as well!!!! We tried to get a video of this, but of course, the Amanos moved. This, the Parkinsoni did not like very much; she was turning over to try to shake them off. We have never seen anything like this!!! It's very sad to watch, but interesting at the same time. UPDATE: We got the video!

I am curiously awaiting any response. I am curious to see if this is a normal behaviour pattern for Botia Sids. I am planning to upgrade to a 75GAL Tank and get a hold of Madagascar Rainbowfish, but if the Botia sids are going to be a future problem, I might move them to a tank of their own.

Are they aggressive? Is this normal behaviour? Or is that the Sids can sense the injured fish?

Soul-hugger

Any injured fish will be targeted. Healthy fish should not have any problem. I think that any longfinned variety would essentially behave like an injured fish, and may be targeted as well.

Thanks! That's what we assumed. I was a bit worried I would have to find another tank for the Botia Sids! We've spent the afternoon dealing with this behaviour and getting worried that isolation for the Sids would be the best choice, but now the injured fish is in isolation and behaviour is back to normal.

Thanks again,
Soul-Hugger

I agree with what bslindgren said. It sounds like your parkinsoni female had a problem that the sids exploited. How is your water? Nitrates?? Rainbows are breeding machines and like we preach about loaches, need a group of their particular species to keep things in balance. I'd find a quiet home with pristine water for the injured fish, maybe some Melafix?

Thanks for your replies. I definitely agree that both the Sids and Shrimp were exploiting the injured fish. None of the healthy fish have been targeted, and I have never seen this behaviour before. It also did not start until the fish's condition had deteriorated significantly.

I have some sad news. Last night, the Parkinsoni Rainbowfish had to be humanely euthanized.

I have learned a few lessons during the course of this incidence. One for sure has to do with moving an injured animal to quarantine right away. It is clear that this behaviour would not have happened if the fish were healthy. I had also considered a water issue, but none of the other fish were affected. This is my main tank where there have been no diseases for a long while. To begin with, this fish had an extremely docile and even neurotic personality. I also saw my male Parva chase the Bosemani, but he would fight back and therefore discouraged the behaviour from continuing. Unfortunately, I got two of the fish from an auction and though I looked, could not find others of their kind. With the Parkinsoni, I had returned to the LFS to buy more, but they were gone, and I have not seen any since. It would certainly be better if any of them could have the company of their own kind. This I am keeping in mind when setting up the 75.

This has been a sad experience all around, but it has also been a learning experience. It has further solidified my growing preference for species only tanks.

Thanks again for your responses.

soul-hugger

IME Rainbows of most species can be pretty pushy toward their females. A reasonable set up would include more females than males (2:1 ratio, or more females) and do not mix species that are so similar that they might hybridize.
I noticed this aggressive tendency first with M. praecox, but have seen some signs of it in other species.

Check the optimum water temperatures for Rainbows when setting up their tanks. Many come from areas with great swings of temperature through the seasons, but others are from more stable areas. My research show that Madagascars (Bedotia gaeyi) are cooler water fish than sids. http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/species ... ng=English

http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/

I have about half a dozen species of Rainbows right now, most are youngsters, just starting to color up.
In general they thrive in the same high water movement set ups that most Loaches like, and are adaptable enough in their water chemistry tolerances to fit most fresh water tanks. Still, working within their optimum range is best, rather than sticking them in a tank that barely suits them.

Thanks Diana, we are aware of that, this is why when the time comes the Sids will remain the warmer 55gal and the B.gaeyi will be in the cooler tank!

Gary