Weirdest thing happened tonight with a new fish.

[Garbro]

So my girlfriend has a 20 gallon tank at her apartment and she got a redtail botia loach one night a month or two back. All it did was hide literally under some driftwood and we rarely if ever saw it. I have a 75 gallon tank and I said I would put it in my take so she can make room for a different more active fish. We figured it would hide in my tank the same as hers and be just fine. My only concern was my redtail shark that is in my tank.

When I dropped the fish in, it hid under a piece of driftwood almost immediately. I figured that would be its new home indefinitely.

Then my redtail swam over to the opening of where it was hiding and the loach swam out to greet him. I was about to grab my net and separate them. Instead, they started doing this dance. The redtail was flaring his fins and making quick jerking motions and the loach would just follow him around. Every once and a while they would brush up against each other, gently though not in an aggressive way.

Does anyone have an idea of what's happening?


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[Malupoo]

I would say they are sussing each other out and deciding a pecking order.
They are both semi aggressive so could get messy.
Both have origins in Thailand so it's possible this is something that occurs naturally.
Just keep an eye on things, I'm a big advocate for red tail sharks and I don't think their temper is bad as most make it out to be but best to be ready.


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[Garbro]

They have been breaking off and doing their own thing in the last hour. Every once in a while they meet up and do "the dance" for 10 or 15 seconds. Watching closely though, thanks for the advice I bet that's what is happening.


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