Sperator Agression

[Redtailrob]

I have two of these fish at 12" & 14 " respectively.
They used to be housed together until they hit the 7-8" mark and then began to fight so they where separated and put in separate tanks themselves, where they have been kept for 6 months.

Tried moving the larger of the two into my 6' x 4' Pond yesterday
Bloody hell, never seen anything like it, it went NUTS chasing and biting absolutely everything in sight, I would understand if ihe/she was of a simalar size or bigger to the other inhabitants but it was the smallest fish in the pond
Swiftly removed him.

Do you think by having kept him alone for a period of time has added to it's aggression?
Although I do appreciate that these are aggresive, territorial fish, just wasnt expecting that level of aggression

[Richard B]

This doesn't sound good Rob

I don't think isolation would increase aggressive tendencies, i would've thought perhaps the opposite? They are one of the more aggressive biggies, & the territory they'd occupy in the wild would be massive compared to your pond - i'm interested to see what other keepers have to comment

[Redtailrob]

Hi Richard & thanks for your reply.

Agreed this doesn't sound good as I had planned to house the fish in my current Pond with some of my other Cats until I upgrade the pond later in the year, not sure what's best now
For now it's back in Soiltary!
The smaller one is in the Pond and absoultely no trouble at all.

I cannot find any true info on this fishe's potential full size (Sperata acicularis), although from the research I've done it doesnt't achieve nearly the same sizes as it's Big relatives Aor & Seenghala
And lets hope not

I too am interested to see what other reply's I recieve.

[Viktor Jarikov]

i'm interested to see what other keepers have to comment

I too am interested to see what other reply's I recieve.

me too but after 1/2 a year, it is not looking promising

Only 3 registered keepers for your sperata: (1) amiidae, (2) Redtailrob, (3) Djthomas.

So little info in Cat-elog and FishBase too. Pretty fish.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Would you please elaborate your question? What to do when a fish chases and bites all its tankmates? The answer to that is pretty obvious. That is why I think you are asking for something else/deeper.

[Richard B]

What's the best thing to do in situations like this??

In reality there are a number of things that could be tried...

moved to solitary would be the first & obvious one as the impact & rik is less than the other options.

Another might be to add to the pond but in a netted off area so the water freely circulates but it cannot interact. After a lengthy period of observation (several days-several weeks) the barrier could be removed but this will require constant monitoring to see if the initial problem has been overcome - if it has this might only be temporary, hence the risk factor. This could be combined with a switch of decor, hiding places & even filter return points to encourage all the occupants to re-evaluate pecking order, territories etc