Stiphodon Spp. Options

[Kajsa12]

Hi Jim,

Any news from the fighting Stiphodons?
I haven't seen any fighting between my Stiphodons since the last (and only) battle. .

Today I've found some S. percnopterygionus. Two males and two females.
I've searched for this species for quite some time.

[Kajsa12]

Hi Jim,

Any news from the fighting Stiphodons?
I haven't seen any fighting between my Stiphodons since the last (and only) battle. .

Today I've found some S. percnopterygionus. Two males and two females.
I've searched for this species for quite some time.

[Kajsa12]

Hi Jim,

Any news from the fighting Stiphodons?
I haven't seen any fighting between my Stiphodons since the last (and only) battle. .

Today I've found some S. percnopterygionus. Two males and two females.
I've searched for this species for quite some time.

[plaamoo]

They have settled down Henri and are getting along again. They were really torn up, ragged fins,scales missing! They heal up quickly though.They seem to be getting cosy with a lone orange fin female that I haven't been able to catch & relocate. She could have been the catalyst?

Great you found some percnopterygionus! I've been hoping to find some too and was recently told they may be available soon. Look forward to pics of yours when you can.

[afroturf]

Whilst were talking about aggression in stiphodon I'm in the process of designing a new large tank mainly for S. semoni, I've kept S. semoni, S. 'orange fin' and S. 'rainbow' but never together I know the likelihood is I'll put more Stiphodon than just S. semoni in the tank but is there a chance the semoni which are significantly smaller then the 'rainbow' could get bullied?

Great new on the S. percnopterygionus too, a species I NEED to kept I found some once but at £50 a pair my pockets weren't big enough.

[plaamoo]

I've had the same concern ^, though odyssey keeps them all together in great numbers. My rainbow species seem very territorial and are the established species in the tank, been there the longest. If I was going to change the dynamic and add more, different species, I think I'd completely re-arrange the tank, or even start a new tank so everyone was a newbie. I have them all in seperate tanks for now.

[Matt]

Odyssey keeps a lot of fish in small tanks so perhaps any aggression is dispersed as with other territorial species eg. mbuna, Garra, many loaches , etc. ?

[plaamoo]

My thoughts also Matt.

[torso]

after a change into a 200 lt-tank my stiphodon sp became much more agressive. the same with beaufortia kweichowensis after the change into a 500 lt-tank. what means: natural behaviour is much more "defence of a place-rejoning the group" than in small, "overcrowded" tanks. with african cichlids it's an anlaogue behaviour I think

[plaamoo]

Interesting Charles, your stiphodon & beaufortia were more aggressive after moving them? I've had the opposite results with various loaches & my stiphodons. When a group of a species, or similar fish, have been residing in a tank for some time and established a territorial hierarchy, and new similar fish are introduced is when I've seen the most aggression, toward the newcomers of course. The last time I added a new stiphodon rainbow species to my established tank, it was almost killed, and it was bigger than the older residents. I try to plan new additions for a tank upgrade, or I rearrange the decor so they're all in an unfamiliar place to start. They still spar for control of the new surroundins, but it seems much less violent.

[torso]

sorry not to have been more precise, Jim. in both cases they moved from a smaller tank into a larger - stiphodon from 120 to 200 lt, b. kweichowensis from 200 to 500 lt - complete new setting and new company included. so the territorial dispute started for real. not surprising in fact because I intended some new observations and took the chance with these old tanks instead of putting them out of order. but the extend was a suprise. as I'm going to establish some new larger tanks I expect more of g. flavatra, l. guntea (spawning again e.g.), y. sidtimunki, y sp orange.

[afroturf]

The reason I asked about this is I've seen the damage sp. 'rainbow' can do to each other, and thought that if a semoni annoyed a rainbow it could get a serious beating.

I have kept semoni with different medium/large Rhinogobius and they've never been harmed the Rhinogobius often squable amongst them selves but take no notice of the semoni. Maybe gobies only pick on fish their own size?

[Kajsa12]

I keep all Stiphodon species together in a 160 x 40x 40 cm tank.
I've never seen any serious fights between the different species, only raising of the dorsal fin.

Nevertheless I'm planning to re-arrange some of my tanks and separate some of my Stiphodon species.
That's because the tankmates in the 160x 40 x 40 tank(P. filamentosus and P. fasciatus) can be a bit too boisterous, especially during feedingtime.
So the Stiphodons have to move and get some calmer tankmates;Maybe I can observe some different behaviour.

Some pics of S. percnopterygionus. I will try to make some better ones when I have more time.

Male



Other male with one of the females in front of him.

[afroturf]

Kinda the same reason i'm restarting one of my tanks, overly boisterous barbs. Might go for some Rasbora sp or Chela.

Very envious of your percnopterygionus lovely specimens,