Are these 2 a couple?

[Ardeus]

 

[eatbreakfast]

Do they swim together or ignore each other?

 

[Reeferdood]

They are a couple all right... A couple coral nippers or aptasia eaters!
They are hit or miss in a reef system from my experience.

 

[Ardeus]

I don't know, they just arrived at a store hundreds of kms away.

 

[Ardeus]

They are a couple all right... A couple coral nippers or aptasia eaters!
They are hit or miss in a reef system from my experience.

I had one that jumped out of the tank. It kept the aiptaisia population in check and it cleared 1 type of xenias.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I don't know, they just arrived at a store hundreds of kms away.

So then it's not possible to know based on the info so far.

 

[Ardeus]

I asked the guy at the store to check their tails to check if it looks like this, but he said he can't be sure.

 

[Ardeus]

The fish below seems to have bristles on the tail.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Even if it is a male and a female they may not be a pr. Filefish form bonded prs. Having a male and a female may help, but it is still not a guarantee they will pr. However, in a decent sized tank this species is tolerant of conspecifics.

 

[Ardeus]

I am trying to keep pairs/harems of fish because they seem much happier that way and are more interesting to watch.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I am trying to keep pairs/harems of fish because they seem much happier that way and are more interesting to watch.

Be careful with that. Many fish are actually stressed by conspecifics in captivity.

 

[Ardeus]

Yes, what you say is true.

I have a pair of flame angels and the pairing took months. During this time, the female was chased from time to time and tried to keep away from the male.

But when fish pair up, they definitely lead happier lives.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Yes, what you say is true.

I have a pair of flame angels and the pairing took months. During this time, the female was chased from time to time and tried to keep away from the male.

But when fish pair up, they definitely lead happier lives.

Quantify happier. Being chased is easy to see and correlates with stress, so its easier to quantify that.

 

[Ardeus]

Quantify happier? I like that question

They hang around each other most of the time. Having the option to be away from each other, they decide to be close most of the time, so we can assume it's something that makes them feel better than just being by themselves.

They also involve in courtship and breeding behaviors, which can be stressful, but stressful good

 

[Ardeus]

He sent me a video

 

[4FordFamily]

Be careful with that. Many fish are actually stressed by conspecifics in captivity.

I agree and cannot stress this enough. This is a classic case of humans anthropomorphizing other creatures.

Most fish do not form bonded pairs, rather harems, schools, or are “indiscriminate breeders”.

 

[Ardeus]

I agree with that too.

But we also must not fall in the opposite side and assume that only humans are able to feel a wide range of emotions.

Most people still believe that fish can't feel pain.

When compared to fish in the wild, fish in captivity seem half alive, no matter how big the tank they are in. You can clearly see this even in public aquariums.

The only times they display a similar level of vitality is when they are feeding, breeding or fighting.

Breeding is one of the strongest drives in most animals' lives. Giving an animal the opportunity to experience that part of existence seems like a good thing to do, especially when these behaviors are not violent.

It makes a tank much more interesting to watch.

None of the 2 fish in the video seem like a male to me.

 

[mort]

The vid doesn't look there is a male to me either. The bristles do come at sexual maturity so size is a factor but I've seen smaller ones (going by the picture of them in the hand) that had bristles.

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks. I will wait for another opportunity.

 

[vetteguy53081]