I'm going to guess this is nothing but aggression, it's still better I post and get a second opinion. I got 2 lightning maroons 2 weeks ago. They have completed ttm along with 2 rounds of prazipro treatment. The female is approximately 2-3 times larger then the male.
Originally I going to separate them in qt with a divider but I set it up improperly and they got together. While there has been some fighting nothing too serious so I just left them together. They are not a pair. Actually the female was in with a tattered finned male. I choose another male hoping he would not suffer the same fate.
They are both eating frozen brine, pe mysis, pe calanous, and a little bit of LRS. Not with much gusto which is a bit surprising but since they are in a bare 10 gallon I have not been over feeding. They seem to ignore pellet food although they may have eaten a few. They've consumed enough PE mysis to keep me happy but really these guys have probably had the worst response to LRS of any fish I've ever kept. That being said they are on their own and I'm just giving them small pieces which is different then sticking some to the glass and seeing a feeding frenzy.
Female looks fantastic. Male has tattered fins - he also stays in the top corner most of the time. They are in my spare room so other then checking on them and feeding I am not constantly watching. When feeding he swims normal so there are no buoyancy or swim bladder issues. I tried to show the fins as best as possible. He's either hiding from the female or the corner is his host.
My options are doing a large water change 75%+ and leaving them be.
Water change + putting the divider back up.
Move 1 or 2 of them to their permanent home - Normally I will observe the fish for an additional 30 days however they are going in a tank with no other fish that has not had fish in probably 1 year. If one or both needed to be treated I could simply remove. If it's just a beating then the 90 gallon would give them space to get away from each other. I could also just add the female and monitor the male but worry she would establish territory and be even less welcoming to the male.
I should point out the only meds I have on hand are prazipro and cupramine.
Originally I going to separate them in qt with a divider but I set it up improperly and they got together. While there has been some fighting nothing too serious so I just left them together. They are not a pair. Actually the female was in with a tattered finned male. I choose another male hoping he would not suffer the same fate.
They are both eating frozen brine, pe mysis, pe calanous, and a little bit of LRS. Not with much gusto which is a bit surprising but since they are in a bare 10 gallon I have not been over feeding. They seem to ignore pellet food although they may have eaten a few. They've consumed enough PE mysis to keep me happy but really these guys have probably had the worst response to LRS of any fish I've ever kept. That being said they are on their own and I'm just giving them small pieces which is different then sticking some to the glass and seeing a feeding frenzy.
Female looks fantastic. Male has tattered fins - he also stays in the top corner most of the time. They are in my spare room so other then checking on them and feeding I am not constantly watching. When feeding he swims normal so there are no buoyancy or swim bladder issues. I tried to show the fins as best as possible. He's either hiding from the female or the corner is his host.
My options are doing a large water change 75%+ and leaving them be.
Water change + putting the divider back up.
Move 1 or 2 of them to their permanent home - Normally I will observe the fish for an additional 30 days however they are going in a tank with no other fish that has not had fish in probably 1 year. If one or both needed to be treated I could simply remove. If it's just a beating then the 90 gallon would give them space to get away from each other. I could also just add the female and monitor the male but worry she would establish territory and be even less welcoming to the male.
I should point out the only meds I have on hand are prazipro and cupramine.
