lemec
Premium Member
So I have a pair of captive bred onyx for a little over a year. They had been at the pet store for almost 8 months before I picked them up....I noticed that both have them have been getting a bit belligerent with the rest of the tank lately, taking nips out of fins and general bullying...so I caught them both in a fish trap and put them in a an acclimation box I have in my tank to see if I could curb the aggression...within three hours of being gone I came back as the lights we going down for the evening only to find the female pinning the male in a corner. He had elevated breathing and was almost a grayish color. I wasn't sure if he was trying to sleep or if the female had beating the poor male down. This morning there was no change, so I tried to let the male go and keep the female penned into the acclimation box. The male is now cowered down behind some rocks near the bottom of the tank, still looking very washed out with heaving breathing, very abnormal for him. So I guess me question is, how normal is it for the females to basically kill their mate!? Nothing new has happened to the tank other than some spectrum adjustments to the LED lighting. Water parameters are all good and no other fish show any signs of disease. I've gotta conclude this is a case of spousal abuse? I've had plenty of pairs of clowns throughout my years in the hobby, but this is my first bred couple...any in put?
