Aggression Test

[reeferdude]

Today I wanted to see really how aggressive my tank is. I dropped in a medium sized feeder goldfish, Needless to say he lasted all of about 5 minutes. The triggers tore him apart mostly and then the tang picked at him till there was nothing left. Surprisingly enough my shark didn’t even come out of his little lr house.

 

[kev]

Cool.. its amazing how much fun it can be to watch a fish rip a goldfish into a thousand pieces lol. I have a largemouth bass, and when I feed him live baby shad he goes nuts, its pretty cool to watch em in action like that.

 

[reeferdude]

What size tank do u have your bass in and where did u get him?

 

[drew_tt]

curious, but what did this 'test' prove? did you not think that your aggressive fish would NOT be aggressive??
Drew...

 

[kev]

He's in an old 55 gal my friend gave to me, and he's about 3in. I caught him in a friends private pond, on a small spinner. Right now I cant afford to make the 55 a salt, so I just figured I'd play around with a bass lol. I've been doing some reading on the net and so far what I've heard is good, they acclimate well to captivity when small, and they are very hardy. This particular bass I have as of now is the smallest largemouth ive ever seen! Makes you wonder about that pond doesn't it?? So far he's been doing great and he's got a bit fatter since when I got him. After reading on the net, Ive found that alot of people keep native fish(which I thought I was the only one on the planet lol.) If your plan on keeping a fish that you caught, make sure that there is MINIMAL damage to the fishes lip. If you wound one too bad it won't do near as good in the home aquarium, and will have its best chances of survival in its natural enviroment. For feeding, I go to my local spillway, and simply dip small fish out with a fine mesh net. Which is about the cheapest way of feeding a fish I can think of.

 

[jillian ayers]

Fish lover that I am, some of these posts make me *shudder* !

 

[deuce biggalow]

I am surprised he lasted that long.If I was to put one in my aggressive tank, they would not last more then 10 seconds. I once had my lion get so full, he ate one more goldfish, and he could not swallow it, the tail was hanging out of his mouth for the whole night.

 

[kevinf]

I'd thing we'd all agree that as beautiful as the ocean is, it is a very violent place. I remember the first time I went deap sea fishing. I couldn't believe that you could catch the live basit fish by just dropping a hook into the water. No bait or anything. Then trying to get you baited hooks through a trigger layer. Man! They don't call them the wolves of the ocean for nothing.

 

[supercichlid]

I have to ask, what did you think would happen? You think that your aggressive fish would not be aggressive? Think they would make friends and dance around joyfully?
Not flaming or shouting, simply wondeing.

 

[fishkid1000]

hey chchilid that would suck. The whole point to having an agressive take is to watch major atacks.

 

[drew_tt]

Originally posted by fishkid1000
hey chchilid that would suck. The whole point to having an agressive take is to watch major atacks.
:O big fat wrong attitude for fish keeping... this is a good example of a very POOR REASON to keep fish
okay, some fish will ONLY eat live food... but yeah, lets all watch the big fish kill the little fish because, you know, killing's cool, dude...
Drew

 

[drkegel]

Wow, I think it's cool to watch predators/aggressive fish carry out their respective life functions. And I think it's a good reason to get aggressive fish.
I love feeding pirahnas and red pike cichlids, they are two of the most aggressive species I have seen. It's fun to me (and obviously to others) to watch the bigger fish tear apart and devour the littler fish in an aggressive tank.
Nature and the wild can be a very very harsh place for the animals that live in it. That's part of their lives, and when we capture live specimens we have to expect that they will do in our tanks what they do in the wild. "Death and destruction" is what some fish do to stay alive.

 

[supercichlid]

Nature and the wild can be a very very harsh place for the animals that live in it. That's part of their lives, and when we capture live specimens we have to expect that they will do in our tanks what they do in the wild.
In the wild, they wouldnt eat goldfish.

 

[grouperhead]

hey chchilid that would suck. The whole point to having an agressive take is to watch major atacks.
That has to be the DUMBEST thing I have read. If that is the reason you keep saltwater fish, do us all a favor and get out of it.
Nature and the wild can be a very very harsh place for the animals that live in it. That's part of their lives, and when we capture live specimens we have to expect that they will do in our tanks what they do in the wild. "Death and destruction" is what some fish do to stay alive.
This is not nature. These fish are in captivity. They do not need to capture and kill their own food. At zoos do they throw a live impala in a lion exhibit and watch the lion tear it to shreds? No. Then why do it in an aquarium environment. Feeding live freshwater feeders is stupid. They have NO nutritional value whatsoever, lead to fatty buildup on the liver, premature death, and can introduce a plethora of unknown pathogens into your tank.
If you want to kill your fish by feeding them live feeders, go ahead, they aren't my fish.
Bo

 

[drkegel]

Oh, my mistake. It's OK for them to eat small fish in the wild, but if we feed them "feeders" (and I don't mean feeder goldfish, there are other "feeders", saltwater included) then we're evil evil people.
I'm sorry, but I fail to see how that logic makes ANY sense.
I see your point from a nutritional standpoint, and agree wholeheartedly with that. I was assuming that the saltwater predators were being fed things they would eat in the wild - you know silversides and other small "baitfish". But, I fail to see how watching them eat is somehow evil and wrong. If you don't want to see your big fish eat littler fish (exactly what they do in the wild) then get smaller nicer fish, ot don't watch them eat. I like to watch them eat - it's fascinating. And I can't fault someone else who likes to watch them eat.
My point was that watching them eat is not evil and wrong. It can certainly be fascniating. Watching an animals behavior and even how it eats is how many scientists have come to understand many creatures, not just fish, in the world. Isn't it the poitn to not only keep fish but to learn more about them? If we don't watch them eat, how well they eat, how often they like to eat, and what they prefer to eat, how are we supposed to know what to feed them? Sure, there are books out there, but how do you think the people who wrote those books found that out? They didn't just wake up one day going, "hey fish like to eat other fish" - I'm pretty sure about that.
I'm sorry, but some fish are natural predators. If you don't want to see a predator do it's job, then don't keep them in your tank, or don't feed them live food. Some of us like to watch them eat live food and hunt it, provided it's good for them to eat.
That's my opinion on the matter.

 

[grouperhead]

Once again, are these fish in the wild? No. How many people have a supply of saltwater feeders? I don't, and I'd say 95% of the people here don't.
But, I fail to see how watching them eat is somehow evil and wrong.
Please show me where I said that?
I watch my fish eat daily. Is feeding freshwater feeders wrong? Yes it is, as they can do no good whatsoever for your fish.
Feeding freshwater feeders to your saltwater fish is wrong. I stand on that subject, and won't change it. Bo

 

[mahoney]

I think that seeing a live impala in a lion den would be kinda cool.

 

[drkegel]

"This is not nature. These fish are in captivity. They do not need to capture and kill their own food. At zoos do they throw a live impala in a lion exhibit and watch the lion tear it to shreds? No. Then why do it in an aquarium environment."
Sounds to me like I should feel like an donkey's hind end with that comment for wanting to watch aggressive fish eat. If I misinterpreted your intention or tone, then I apologize.
Why do it in an aquarium environment? Why not? If this is how they act in "real life", not in some "protected" and human-controlled environment, why not watch the beauty of nature in action up close and personal? There are lots of TV shows (Remember "Wild America"? How about Croc Hunter?) that show you how animals (tigers, lions, sea lions, preying mantis, etc.) hunt and feed in the wild. I think those shows are fascinating, just like watching fish hunt and feed on other live fish is fascinating.
If you feed frozen food - you are feeding dead animals that were probably killed by man, not by their natural predator. So which is worse? Buying foods that are harvested in mass by man in their live form which stay live until a "natural predator" does them in or harvested in mass and immediately killed and processed so you can feed them to your fish later anyway? The end result here is the same people.

 

[drew_tt]

feeders not being generally 'good-enough' is something we can all agree on... with that being in mind, why NOT feed your fish HEALTHY frozen & prepared foods? okay, a damsel will be better than a goldfish, but why not go the extra step and feed 'the best of the best?'
what I derive from all this, is that keeping aggressive fish because "its cool to see them kill" is not a legitimate reason for keeping ANY fish... and if one keeps them because he/she supposedly wants to 'learn more about them,' referring to their ABILITY (not need) to kill and eat other fish, I guarantee (well 99% ) that that person is flat-out lying and does it 'cuz its cool, man... same goes for other reasons "they dont eat frozen in the wild" "I am replicating their natural habitat" "blah blah blah..."
I used to be a semi-fence-sitter, but after working at a lfs and getting tons of punks, children, even old people coming in and saying "Ive got [X] tank... give me something cool that kills other fish so I can put fish in there and watch them get murdered," I KNOW 'people' keep aggressive fish for their behaviors (I say this IF they feed feeeders) and in a way, to satisfy somesort of personal bloodlust (maybe keeping these fish are preventing them from venturing out and killing people themselveS? I dunno thats antoher issue ...)...
I can recall a couple people who love thier oscar/trigger because theyre so friendly, personable, and have a personality... and I do remember these people feeding their fish not-live foods...
so, I dont like to generalize, but I do here...
and we'll never agree on this one because feeding fish are 'too cool' and I will never see that side... so let's agree to disagree here.
Drew
~who loves ALL fish~ :d

 

[kalim2002]

it's funny how some people in this hobby get so worked up about the "evil" nature of mantis shrimps, who are simply feeding themselves , when these same "human beings" may derive so much pleasure from causing the needless death and suffering of other living things.