Now I have a hunter

[William1]

I've been watching my tank most of the morning. I work at home, so even if I have work to do I keep an eye on the tank, if not work in front if the tank. Today one of my guys has been chasing cardinal tetras all morning. I have seven big cardinals. This guy gets super dark and has been chasing them all morning. I mean swimming fast, sometimes sideways. Fortunately the cardinals have been faster. If they were neons, I bet I'd be missing some. Pretty fascinating. He actually was kind of hiding in a sword plant for a sneak attack it seems. These fish are nearing six inches and there has been a huge shift in activity, aggression and changes in behavior like this example. He's still at it. Chasing cardinals like crazy. Totally dark. Fascinating.

[Phillydubs]

They well fed...?

[William1]

I don't think it's lack of food. I think it's hormones. Like my fish are going from teenagers to adults and there are growing pains, so to speak. Now their individual personalities will start to show. This aggression phase is like a teenager lion chasing a hare, for practice. They are wild discus. The hunter fish is a prominent member. I believe it is a female, she has a bent right feeler fin, like 3/8" at the end is at a ninety to the rest of the fin. And when not pitch black in hunting phase, is the reddest finned of the tribe. She has been seen being flirtatious with a big handsome tan guy. Like I said, I think it's hormones. The whole tank is exploding with activity and aggression. I know some hate drama. As long as they stay in the tank, I think it's cool!

[Keith Perkins]

Sounds somewhat familiar. My discus got along fine with my various tetras until the discus started to spawn and the tetras found the fry tasty. The discus took GREAT offense to this and eliminated the threat to their fry. I'd predict your hunter will learn to get better at her new favorite activity.

[Second Hand Pat]

Some of the general gender differences with wild discus is males tend to have a thicker forehead and with wild blues the females tend to have a redder base body color. Are you seeing these two hanging together, defending a spot in the tank, peaking at a specific spot or shaking/bowing with each other. I can post some of my early breeding/spawning videos of my wild greens so you can see what to watch for. This could be exciting stuff.
Pat

[William1]

They cruise to the left hand of the tank together and hang out a bit. I think I saw a 'side by', but not yet a 'shimmy '. It's been twenty years since I've seen either, but I'm sure you know what I mean. There is another guy who plays 'third wheel', and tries to get between. Drama. No wonder she's aggressive. That much attention can get down right aggravating. She's gone rogue. These fishies have amazing colors right now. I will
pull up a lawn chair and get some pics when the glare goes away. The hunt is on hold for now. The cardinals would get just close enough to get chased, but not enough to get ate. Great sport, if you're a fish, I suppose. I am impressed with the cardinal tetra's acceleration upon being chased. They definitely bolted ahead when need be and showed considerable elusive speed and moves. I think they actually enjoyed the exercize. Oh well, I know I did.

[Phillydubs]

Interesting... Would love to see pics and or video!

I have cards and rummies w my domestics and crosses and the discus act like they aren't even there but the small fish sure know where they are.

I personally find those tetras very hard to keep around. It seems whenever I have a group they dwindle and dwindle one here one there. I guess it's just nature and the way it goes.

[William1]

Well yeah, they dwindle. I started with fourteen cardinals. The nature of the beast, so to speak. I still have seven this morning. When they get big and have been around for a while they are usually pretty hardy. And surprisingly speedy. She was back at it this morning. Gets pitch black and chases the cardinals side to side, up and around, gets them cornered and they always get away. Classic game of cat and mouse.
Everyone just ate a bunch. She started chasing again right away. It's not hunger driven. More just playing or practicing. It will be interesting to see how long this behavior lasts. A lot of aggression and activity in the tank right now.

[William1]

Just to follow up on this. The hunt lasted for a day and a half. I guess she lost interest. The cardinals are surprising fast swimmers. Although I'm not sure if the intent was really to kill and eat them or just some expression of some kind. Instinct or something similar. It was interesting to watch. The fish would have normal color on one side of the tank, then would get increasing darker as it swam to the the other, getting black and swimming at about a thirty degree angle. It would chase the cardinals up and around, even would corner them, but they always got away. Like I said, they are faster than you think. But like I also said, I'm not sure if it was a sincere attempt at hunting and eating prey. More like playing around I am inclined to believe.

[Keith Perkins]

I'll be waiting for your next update. :)