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Aggression is a very difficult topic to cover on a website. In order to place some type of meaningful explanation or rating for fish aggression on a page we have decided to try. This is really being done to help you with selecting appropriate tankmates or colonies for your aquariums. This system must be caveated with this disclaimer. "Any fish of any species can be aggressive if it wants to be". What do I mean by that? I have been told the Astatotilapia nubila is a very peaceful fish, my dominant male however never read those stories of peace and love. He proceeded to kill seven of his kind. He developed a very beautiful black body with wonderous white fangs as his only other color marking. I called him "Dracula". He was a menace to his kind and really thought poorly of any other male of any type and just as poorly of any female that did not want to mate with him whenever he was ready. They just died in his wake. So much for the peaceful and loving Astatotilapia nubila.
How are we going to rate fish aggression? We have devised this way to depict it:( 8 / 2 ). What does this mean? The first number shows a rating of a fish's aggression towards other fish of the same type. The second shows a rating of a fish's aggression towards other fish of a different type. Both are scaled on a one to ten system, with ten being the most aggressive.
How can you use this system to help you with fish compatibility or colony establishment? Well, let's take a look at this example: ( 8 / 4 ). This means the fish is aggressive towards it's own but not very aggressive towards others. You should be careful in selecting a colony and be sure there is enough space, hiding places, male to female ratios will also be important. However, this same fish can be kept with similarly aggressive tankmates with few or no problems. If the numbers were: ( 3 / 8 ) this fish is fine with it's own, but must be kept with other fish that are similarly aggressive tankmates. Most importantly, do not place a fish with a high aggression rating into a tank with a fish that has a low rating, the low rating fish will probably become a target of the more aggressive specimen or may even be killed. Again, the most important thing of all is to plan your tanks and then watch their interaction afterwards.
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