Sewellia fighting?...

[grizzlyone]

Ok, I stayed home from work today and noticed some off behavior..

I've seen the new guys tussling at bit on the back of the tank once in a while but now for the last two hours I've seen a pair (seems to be male and a female) doing the circle dance for almost two hours. They have literally made a pit in the substrate from circling so much.

So I'm back to...Is this fighting or are they courting?

Inquiring minds.

Kevin

[mikev]

Hi Kevin,

A similar thing happened here, in fact, I had posted a "Sewellia fighting" thread a while back too:
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... a+fighting

I am now pretty certain that it was sexual, fights are much shorter and also are more direct: they don't circle when fighting.
In my case, there was no "main event" and no kids resulted. Also, I have not seen this repeating since (does not mean anything, I'm not watching the tank all the time).

One warning: the males involved in this circling here seemed totally exhausted from the activity. One was sliding on the glass, unable to hold to it. And a few days after the fight one of the Sewellia's was found dead; given the state of the body, I think I'm correct in connecting the death to what they were doing. (There was no disease in the tank, no other deaths, and it was the only Sewellia I lost so far.).....

[grizzlyone]

okay, now its really freaking me out. another hour plus match on top (and sides) of the bogwood...


Kevin

[grizzlyone]

okay, now its a threesome on the rock next to the bogwood..

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4653317



Kevin

[Jim Powers]

Ooooh!! A three way....how kinky.
Sounds like you may have some breeding going on. Keep an eye out for the release of eggs into the current.
Good luck!!!

[grizzlyone]

I'm uploading some videos as we speak.

maybe that will be of interest...

http://media.putfile.com/Hillie-spawning1

http://media.putfile.com/Hillie-spawning2

http://media.putfile.com/Hillie-spawning4


Enjoy. Sorry about the lighting...

I gave my sister my good camera and was working on a new one for me but it hasn't happened yet.

Kevin

[Jim Powers]

Cool!

[grizzlyone]

Jim:

Since you are the local expert, what do the eggs look like?

So far we've had lots of circling and topping (hours and hours of it), but no eggs so far.

I had put them in the cold water tank in anticipation of moving them to their new river tank, but they seem to be thriving in there. I'm moving them soon since the tank has been up for a while and I've been moving water over from the cold water tank on a regular basis, so its as close in chemistry to the tank they are in as it can be.

Now I'm not sure about moving them, but the new river tank has a cannister filter and not one of the egg sucking HOB back ones that are in the tank they are in. Any ideas?


Kevin

[Jim Powers]

Well, I wouldn't say I'm the local expert. But thanks for the compliment.
I have seen this behavior in my fish, but have not seen any eggs, but understand, from Martin's observations of his fish, that they are very small and are dispersed into the water column.
As far as whether to move them or not, I think that depends on which tank has the best conditions for them. It might be a good idea to let the river tank run for a bit, fully cycle and even develop a little algae before putting them in.

[grizzlyone]

more horny teenager Sewellia behavior. I'm wondering if someone has been dosing the tank with viagra or something....


Another two hours of circling and topping...

No "completion" as far as I've seen.


Kevin