Skip to main content

Tail biter



This is a behavior you don't often get to see, mainly because this means the fish is devalue and most people will choose to keep quiet about it. Out of maybe a 1,000 fishes you will find one tail biter, as its name suggest they attack their own tail. As to why exactly they do this is unsure and this crazies is not restrict to Channa Marulioides alone as Arowanas behaves the same sometimes. Some will say they are lonely or hungry, but as you all know I was left with 4 Terengganus and 4 of them is kept in identical environment, single tank fed the same food kept in the same PH and lightings.

From my many years in keeping Channa Marulioides this is the 2nd pc tail biter that I've actually encountered. I've swapped the fish tank with another Terengganu as I was wondering if the tank reflection is causing the self inflicting wounds but the fish that took its place behaves normal and this fish continue to attack its own tail.

I've also tried raising the PH to PH7 and I still see him chasing his own tail. From my previous experience the only way to stop this behavior is to comm the fish. When he is left distracted he will finally leave his tail in peace or a piece. 

A member has suggested high flow rate will stop this behavior which is a possibility as my previous comm tank was with high flow rate. I will try this experiment before comming it in my big tank. I had already put out my Aimara for sale, he and the red kaloi is not exactly friendly anyway.

My observation also tells me it is not cause by glass reflection, as you can see from the video when he is swimming the corner of his eyes catches his own tail and he treats that as another fish and attack it as if its another fish. 

For those that is acquiring a new fish observe the tail, if they're tattered and torn then it is a possible tail biter. Its not a total lost fish if you're planning to comm it, but keeping it in solitary tank will be most disappointing.

*update I've tried experimenting with high flow rate and 3 days later the fish is still chasing his own tail. So high flow rate didnt work in my experiment. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The science behind Channa Marulioides colors and pattern

Channa Marulioides is the chameleon of the fish, they are the champion when comes to color changing abilities. In a split second they can change from greenish brown to yellow and to orange. They can change their eye color from black to bright red. Observe your Channa Marulioides and you can see they greet you with bright yellow colors doing the maru dance, they flashes their bands to the highest contrast. The body colors are intense and their eyes bright vampire red in colors. When they are tone down and just swim about their business you notice the color is dull when they are in mid water, and suddenly sinking to the bottom with bright orange (depending on the var and PH) they keep changing and flashing their bands and patterns. But the black and white flowers will remain so in whichever mood they display. Also take note that maru shows their best colors mostly at midnight. Each Channa Marulioides comes in its own unique pattern of bands and flowers, like a fingerprint, I beli
Post a Comment
Read more

Marulioides Care Part 1 (Bunga)

I've been reluctant to write this but many had asked me to post how to take care of marulioides for maximum performance. The truth is you need to abused it, hence Marulioides care isn't exactly the correct terms to use. Channa Marulioides is found in most part of malaysia, lakes, pond, streams, rivers, but one thing most fisherman realized are those caught in swamp, I mean really dead stagnant peat swamp. Waters that are near black in color most time the fish had tremendous performance, beautiful colors and a lot of flowers. From this theory many tried replicating the conditions with low ph and so on. I've experiment many ways of keeping marulioides and I can concur to this, Low PH meaning Ph5 and below, I usually keeps mine ard PH4 or maybe lower, because my test kit can only measure till 4 and cant read anything lower. Low PH produce beautiful coloration. As for the bunga, yes everybody wants to know this, there is no tricks, just lots and lots of experiment. It i
5 comments
Read more

Malaysia Golden Arowana Challenge

This project was back in 2014, Kitty Lai wanted to know if I still have it to groom Arowana fish. So I picked a so so XB which I bid only for RM400. Its not a fish which you will find appetizing, the fish has slight PLJ, crossed barbel, very thin/translucent gold.  unformed pearlies  Very transluscent gold  crossed barbel Pictures above are what the seller sent me  Fished Arrived First Day fish in my tank First fixed was having the barbel cut and take note of the slight PLJ PLJ - Protruding Lower Jaw 2 weeks later in the dark tank, gold become more intense and I needed to pump the fish up to reduce the PLJ effect. Tanning project begins and when I went to find for tanning lights only did I realized how long it had been since I left the Arowana scene. TFC factory had closed down, for your information TFC T8 light is one of the best tanning light for arowana. I asked all the shop and they say everyone is using LED tanning light. Forget about
17 comments
Read more