Doesnt Look Like A Match Made In Heaven

[markandhisfish]

it doesnt look like ronnie and reggie are destined to be tankmates . today reggie is looking pretty battered and ronnie doesnt have a scratch on him . i have seen the odd spat but nothing that looked serious enough to cause these kind of injuries . ive done a 50% waterchange but i fear that it looks like im gonna end up just having 1 oscar . see what you think from these pics

 

[walkers101]

yup looks that way mate and it will only get worse as they get older

 

[markandhisfish]

the only thing is tho the odd spat i see is nothing really just a lot of handbags , certainly not seen anything that was bad enough to cause this. i did wonder if hes injuring himself trying to squeeze into something/somewhere tight/sharp but i dont think thats the case

 

[GShorty1981]

Keep a Sev with the more placid one of the 2 and trade in the aggressor.

 

[minxfishy]

They look fairly superficial wounds, doesnt mean they wont get on in time, likely just sorting out who is the most dominant and may well calm down once thats established. My two used to have the odd spat when they were smaller, but nothing serious and didnt last long and they grew up to be the best of friends.

 

[markandhisfish]

fighting isnt 100% confirmed as the reason yet . he could be injuring himself trying to squeez behind a filter pipe / feater etc . im keeping the water claen and watching them like a hawk for now . then i will decide as appropriate .

They look fairly superficial wounds, doesnt mean they wont get on in time, likely just sorting out who is the most dominant and may well calm down once thats established. My two used to have the odd spat when they were smaller, but nothing serious and didnt last long and they grew up to be the best of friends.

would yours fight when the lights were off mags? i only as as ive seen plenty of handbags last couple of days but not a full on scrap that would cause any injury to either fish

 

[minxfishy]

Both with lights on and off, full on lip-locking even when they were small, but it was just a dominance thing, which as I say didnt last long and nothing serious came of it, once that was over, they started with the mating rituals, hole digging, dancing around each other, even though they were too small for anything to come of it.

Give it time, at their size, they are too small (in theory) to cause each other major damage, obviously if it does become continual fighting and one is suffering, then its best to rehome one. You dont have much decor in the tank, maybe adding some more will help give the less dominant some space to retreat to if needs be.

 

[markandhisfish]

this is what i find strange , hes certainly not submissive in his behaviour , hes propper in your face . the 2 mostly swim side by side . i think all i can really do is be extra vigilant for a few days and if reggie starts too look worse think about splitting them up .

 

[minxfishy]

Mine were the same, always together, like little kids, they sometimes fall out for no reason, keep an eye on them its all you can do and take it from there

 

[markandhisfish]

will do . the only reason im slightly concerned is that i havent actually seen a proper fight , which would at least give me a definate cause of his poor condition. all water stats are fine , diet is perfect . ahhh the joys of cichlids

 

[njstockley]

shame mark as you seemed so keen on these two!

seen the thread in the african cichlid section - is that for another tank or are you saying goodbye to the oscars?

 

[markandhisfish]

shame mark as you seemed so keen on these two!

seen the thread in the african cichlid section - is that for another tank or are you saying goodbye to the oscars?

long story lol . undecided at the moment . im in 1 of those dont know what i want states. a big part of the hobby im getting really into now is aquatic photography . im about to set up an overhead flash setup specificly for fish photography and to be honest theres only so much you can do with just 2 fish in a tank photography wise. plus the missus would be more interested in the tank if it was all breathtaking colour and loads of activity . and shes said if i wanted to do an mbuna tank shes willing to give me a fat wad of cash to set it up . that combined with the more exciting aquatic photography possibilities i must admit im finding extremely hard to resist. also im getting towards thinkng that just being fully stocked with 2 fish is a kind of a waste of a big tank . but nothing is set in stone yet im just doing some research .

 

[bullit]

Poor old oscars, youve only just got them.

 

[markandhisfish]

like i said nothing is set in stone

 

[kaivalagi]

Yeah mate, leave them be for a while, no rash decisions

Think about why you made the decision to have them and what it will be like in the longer term once they've grown some...let's face it an oscar (or 2) make great "wet pets" as many posts can attest to.....didn't you get them for that reason alone? Getting mbuna would be taking a step backwards IMHO

Also, Mbuna are big time movers....they'll be really awkward to get good shots of

If I were you I'd atleast wait until the weather improves and you can get outdoors with the camera, then see what you want from your fish and the photography hobby. I, for example, am planning on taking lots of trips on my motorbike to nature reserves etc with my camera gear once the weather improves, I have a nice 500mm lens to make proper use of

p.s. tell me more about this flash from above idea? Have you tried using a normal flash gun yet i.e. a Canon 430EX like I have for example and not the built in jobby...