Chsguy88
Aquarium Advice Regular
Just set up a 28 gallon bowfront, freshwater, 2 Emperor 280's, jager 100 w heater, water tested at petsmart and they said everything was perfect ph may be a tad high but nothing to worry about....
I got 5 zebra danios until I knew the cycling was done since they were hearty, First few days all 5 danios got along great. I started googling like crazy because I was so excited and found out I had at least 2 females and 2 males, not sure the sex of the 5th. One of the females looked like she was about to bust with eggs...
Then its like the tank turned into a murder scene.... It was the fat female against the rest.... literally one died everyday. The best way to describe it is they literally got bullied to death, the female was relentless! She would attack and then they would basically get so worn out they would stay at the top of the tank isolated in a corner or behind the filter, and by the next morning that one would be dead.
Now there's just the female, and the one male she let live.... and the aggression has stopped. Its literally like she just wanted to take out everyone but her selected mate, it was the weirdest thing. All petsmart can say is "wow, I've never heard of this happening."
NOW here's where it starts getting weird.... Its like the tables have turned, they will swim together some, but now the female kind of stays in one spot and the male is like more active than hes ever been. Hes constantly exploring the tank and just looks "happy." The past few days it was the female who was roaming all around the tank and the male was kind of skiddish (probably thinking he was next on the hitlist.) He doesnt bully the female though, literally all the aggression is gone. The female looks more normal now, so im assuming all of her eggs have been released...
I guess my question is do all females who are about to release their eggs go all serial killer on the rest of the group? I mean I know hormones can cause moodiness in people, but i mean she went from calm and happy with the rest of the group, to being the "leader of the pack," to bulling all the others to death except for one male, then laying her eggs, and now finally in a state of depression.
Has this happened to anyone else, or did I just happen to get a bipolar, jealous, murdering, moody fish? I know these fish are supposed to be kept in groups of 6... but I refuse to buy more since literally one was killed by her each day. Its like she just wanted her man and no one else. I mean they're healthy fish... I feed omega one, dont over/under feed, have good water chemistry, am majorly over filtering, wasn't anywhere near being over crowded.... I mean its like she had a hitlist, targeted one each day... then stopped the killing spree when she killed all but one male.. now shes depressed and the male is happy.
Sorry if this was a jumble of thoughts, but I'm just soooo confused.... This behavior is mind boggling and from what I can see I'm not doing anything wrong (other than maybe not having live plants yet.... the tank is a work in progress, kind of buying add ons when the extra money and vision for the tank comes along.) Light is on a timer, roughly 12 h on 12 h off.... Used prime for the water, both Emperors have the optional media basket filled with the Diamond blend with carbon and ammonia neutralizing crystals... used bacteria starter, and both biowheels had been used previously so they had a good amount of beneficial bacteria built up too...
This is soo weird, I feel like I'm watching an episode of Deadly Women: Bipolar edition or something. ANY advice, tips, or knowledge about what went on would be great. Thanks yall!
I got 5 zebra danios until I knew the cycling was done since they were hearty, First few days all 5 danios got along great. I started googling like crazy because I was so excited and found out I had at least 2 females and 2 males, not sure the sex of the 5th. One of the females looked like she was about to bust with eggs...
Then its like the tank turned into a murder scene.... It was the fat female against the rest.... literally one died everyday. The best way to describe it is they literally got bullied to death, the female was relentless! She would attack and then they would basically get so worn out they would stay at the top of the tank isolated in a corner or behind the filter, and by the next morning that one would be dead.
Now there's just the female, and the one male she let live.... and the aggression has stopped. Its literally like she just wanted to take out everyone but her selected mate, it was the weirdest thing. All petsmart can say is "wow, I've never heard of this happening."
NOW here's where it starts getting weird.... Its like the tables have turned, they will swim together some, but now the female kind of stays in one spot and the male is like more active than hes ever been. Hes constantly exploring the tank and just looks "happy." The past few days it was the female who was roaming all around the tank and the male was kind of skiddish (probably thinking he was next on the hitlist.) He doesnt bully the female though, literally all the aggression is gone. The female looks more normal now, so im assuming all of her eggs have been released...
I guess my question is do all females who are about to release their eggs go all serial killer on the rest of the group? I mean I know hormones can cause moodiness in people, but i mean she went from calm and happy with the rest of the group, to being the "leader of the pack," to bulling all the others to death except for one male, then laying her eggs, and now finally in a state of depression.
Has this happened to anyone else, or did I just happen to get a bipolar, jealous, murdering, moody fish? I know these fish are supposed to be kept in groups of 6... but I refuse to buy more since literally one was killed by her each day. Its like she just wanted her man and no one else. I mean they're healthy fish... I feed omega one, dont over/under feed, have good water chemistry, am majorly over filtering, wasn't anywhere near being over crowded.... I mean its like she had a hitlist, targeted one each day... then stopped the killing spree when she killed all but one male.. now shes depressed and the male is happy.
Sorry if this was a jumble of thoughts, but I'm just soooo confused.... This behavior is mind boggling and from what I can see I'm not doing anything wrong (other than maybe not having live plants yet.... the tank is a work in progress, kind of buying add ons when the extra money and vision for the tank comes along.) Light is on a timer, roughly 12 h on 12 h off.... Used prime for the water, both Emperors have the optional media basket filled with the Diamond blend with carbon and ammonia neutralizing crystals... used bacteria starter, and both biowheels had been used previously so they had a good amount of beneficial bacteria built up too...
This is soo weird, I feel like I'm watching an episode of Deadly Women: Bipolar edition or something. ANY advice, tips, or knowledge about what went on would be great. Thanks yall!