"Ross Vandegrift" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone,

I recently moved my 40 gallon planted tank to a new apartment. The move
is mostly complete (I left my SAE's with my parents - too wily to
capture from their tank).

I have three synodontis catfish that are between four and six inches.
Previous to the move, the three got along well. One was always larger
then the other two.

After the move, I noticed that one of the smaller ones has grown to be
closer to the bigger one. Now they fight a lot! One of the two looks
like it's breathing is stressed, and his dorsal fin is usually clamed.
The two will fight for hours at a time, and I'm a bit worried.

My tank has a large piece of driftwood, with lots of niches to hide, and
a rock that I use to make a cave with the driftwood. It was far more
heavilty planted before, and will be soon, but the plants were cut
pretty far back for the move.

Should I be worried about them? I've always heard that they are
normally fish that do well in groups - is that correct?


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Ross Vandegrift


Hi Ross, do you have another tank to be able to separate them? I suspect
that they are past the point where a few extra plants and driftwood will
solve their problem. Most of these cats are actually quite territorial,
either protecting their feeding ground or for holding spawning territory.
The smaller male(?) might not have been a threat before, but the jump in
size has changed the situation.
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www.NetMax.tk