Nat N
Member
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2011
- Messages
- 120
Hi all,
I thought I would share some of my newly confirmed knowledge and experience on “fish and invert psychology”. This topic equally belongs to both "Fish" and "Inverts" parts of the forum.
I have to start with a little story from a few year back. I have witnessed a conversation in one of the fish shops which I found amusing and funny at the same time. A customer obviously asked a member of staff a question which I did not hear. But I heard a reply – mind you, it came from a bloke which I knew was very knowledgeable and fish and plants were not only his job but his hobby and passion... So, the reply I heard was: “I have NO IDEA!!! I am not a fish psychologist!”
I found it rather funny at the time – and still remember it...
Now to the point. There were a couple of threads here asking about Amano shrimps and if they are intimidating to any fish. From my personal experience, I can now be 100% sure that they are... They are not threatening or dangerous but ARE intimidating to some fish.
I discovered it first time when I kept three Amanos in the same tank with a few dwarf Corys. The Corys were fine, coming out at feeding time, healthy, etc. I only realised the difference in their behaviour when the Amanos died out of old age... All of a sudden, the Corys became a dominant feature of the tank movement wise. I never saw them so active before...
Now today’s experience. One of my tanks which are all “themed” is dedicated to Australasia’ flora and fauna. I have Amanos in there – partially because I had nowhere to put them and partially because, although not exactly from the region, they originate from a relatively “close” part of the Earth and I could not source endemic Caridinas for this tank...
For months, I was trying to buy some Stiphodons for this tank – and was eventually lucky late May this year. They acclimatised well, I even managed the most difficult part: to provide them with food without letting the tank to succumb to algae (this what they eat together with auswuchs) and maintain a CO2 injection without them suffering as they allegedly prefer high oxygen content (I do love my plants and CO2 is what I would not give up on!). However, they were not coming out that often...
I have bought a few more of them today – and WHAT A CHANGE!
The “old residents” and the new ones quickly got to know each other and I now see them a lot! And although my Amanos have not disappeared into hiding (they are still around) what I see now proves that the Stiphodons needed to be in greater numbers to feel confident in the presence of Amanos...
So, a thing to think about for everyone: wellbeing of plants and fish does not simply end at providing the right water and the right food and avoiding obviously wrong combinations of fish/inverts is fine but truly comfortable conditions have to be either researched again and again or (as in the case with my Stiphodons where little information is available) is a matter of experimenting (with a backup plan, of course).
And yes, - Amanos are generally harmless but can be scary for quite a lot of smaller fish...
P.S. For the factual "purity": these are the numbers: 12 Amanos and 5 previously compared to 18 Stiphodons now...
I thought I would share some of my newly confirmed knowledge and experience on “fish and invert psychology”. This topic equally belongs to both "Fish" and "Inverts" parts of the forum.
I have to start with a little story from a few year back. I have witnessed a conversation in one of the fish shops which I found amusing and funny at the same time. A customer obviously asked a member of staff a question which I did not hear. But I heard a reply – mind you, it came from a bloke which I knew was very knowledgeable and fish and plants were not only his job but his hobby and passion... So, the reply I heard was: “I have NO IDEA!!! I am not a fish psychologist!”
I found it rather funny at the time – and still remember it...
Now to the point. There were a couple of threads here asking about Amano shrimps and if they are intimidating to any fish. From my personal experience, I can now be 100% sure that they are... They are not threatening or dangerous but ARE intimidating to some fish.
I discovered it first time when I kept three Amanos in the same tank with a few dwarf Corys. The Corys were fine, coming out at feeding time, healthy, etc. I only realised the difference in their behaviour when the Amanos died out of old age... All of a sudden, the Corys became a dominant feature of the tank movement wise. I never saw them so active before...
Now today’s experience. One of my tanks which are all “themed” is dedicated to Australasia’ flora and fauna. I have Amanos in there – partially because I had nowhere to put them and partially because, although not exactly from the region, they originate from a relatively “close” part of the Earth and I could not source endemic Caridinas for this tank...
For months, I was trying to buy some Stiphodons for this tank – and was eventually lucky late May this year. They acclimatised well, I even managed the most difficult part: to provide them with food without letting the tank to succumb to algae (this what they eat together with auswuchs) and maintain a CO2 injection without them suffering as they allegedly prefer high oxygen content (I do love my plants and CO2 is what I would not give up on!). However, they were not coming out that often...
I have bought a few more of them today – and WHAT A CHANGE!
The “old residents” and the new ones quickly got to know each other and I now see them a lot! And although my Amanos have not disappeared into hiding (they are still around) what I see now proves that the Stiphodons needed to be in greater numbers to feel confident in the presence of Amanos...So, a thing to think about for everyone: wellbeing of plants and fish does not simply end at providing the right water and the right food and avoiding obviously wrong combinations of fish/inverts is fine but truly comfortable conditions have to be either researched again and again or (as in the case with my Stiphodons where little information is available) is a matter of experimenting (with a backup plan, of course).
And yes, - Amanos are generally harmless but can be scary for quite a lot of smaller fish...
P.S. For the factual "purity": these are the numbers: 12 Amanos and 5 previously compared to 18 Stiphodons now...
