sarrett@ics.uci.edu (Wendy Sarrett) (01/17/90)
First, I'd like to thank those who responed to my previous post regarding the swordtail incedent. The consensus seems to be that the fish ran into something sharp causing the injury. Well, now I've replaced him with a Scat. The Scat doesn't seem to be being bothered by the other fish, but he seems to behave oddly. He seems to be staying by the power filter intake and not swimming around the tank very much. Although, he seems to be more active this morning. Also, he is the only fish, other then the Pleco, that doesn't seem to "come running" when the food is served. Is this normal behavior? He seems quite healthy otherwise. What is normal behavior for these critters?? I know from the fish store that they like vegetable matter to eat and some salt in the water, both of which I have provided. Thanks in advance, Wendy
spirit@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (01/18/90)
We had two scats in a brackish tank for about six months. If we even
walked into the room with the tank, they would swim to the top and
shake, anticipating food. They were very aggressive feeders. At
first, if there was any untoward movement in front of the tank or if
there was some reason I had to put my hand in the tank, they would
run off to hide for a few seconds, but after a few times of that,
they were completely fearless. Ours were more aggressive than what
some books I had seen had indicated--the larger one (4 in. or so)
decided to take out all the females in the tank in the space of 2
days. We gave them to a guy who leases aquaria in town and he moved
them into a couple of 200+ gallon salt set-ups he had at a nursing
home. All reports indicate they're doing well. They're supposed to
need more salt as they get older and larger. I wondered if the
increased aggression as they got bigger resulted from the water
conditions becoming less than ideal for them.
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