Your Fish are Angry

[LuckyInk]

Home fish tanks and aquariums may at first appear to be tranquil environments, but look closely and you might see a glaring goldfish or a ticked off tetra.

A new study has found that ornamental fish across the U.S. -- all 182.9 million of them -- are at risk of becoming aggressive due to cramped, barren housing.

In other words, fish can turn mean when their home sucks, according to a new study in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.

"The welfare of aquarium fishes may not seem important, but with that many of them in captivity, they become a big deal," project leader Ronald Oldfield, an instructor of biology at Case Western Reserve University, said in a press release.

Oldfield's paper is the first to scientifically study how the environment of home aquariums affects the aggressive behavior of ornamental fishes. The findings are in keeping with related research, though. For example, earlier this year I reported on how cramped tank conditions are turning sea urchins into cannibals.

Read more here.

 

[Reddog170]

Nice article. Goes to show just how important it is to keep our fish happy. Thank you for posting it. Shaun

 

[N83259]

Cramped conditions are certainly a cause. And poor fish choices for the environment available, and poor decisions on mixing species I might add. And poor advice from many LFSs from sea to shining sea doesn't help either.

 

[DaveK]

I read articles like this and all I can think of is what a load of crap the Discovery News article is. Yes, perhaps some food for thought, but the subject fish is midas chichlids (Amphilophus citrinellus). This is a big, grows to 16 inches, know to be aggressive fish. The big difference between a tank and a lake or stream is that in a tank, the "looser" in a fight can swim away, so there is going to be a limited amount of damage done. This isn't true in tank, where the "looser" can't even get out of sight.

Even if we were dealing with modest size, 6 inch fish, and a large tank, say 250 gal, the fish are usually going to beat up on each other, unless it's a mated pair. This is expected behavior for these type of fish. At least the original article in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science specifically restricted itself to the species in question and similar species. Generally this isn't anything we haven't know in the aquarium hobby for years, but at least now there is a formal study. Now it's been demonstrated that you need space and complex environments for large aggressive fish.

I can't help but think that if a non-aggressive species was chosen, the study would have shown little.

Then the Discovery News article takes this study and extrapolates it to the point where we should to worry about just about every possible fish we have in the hobby. IMO, this is questionable reporting.

 

[Woody]

Sorry if I'm about to offend anyone, but this is just tripe.

I haven't read the actual article but Dave you've hit the nail on the head with the state of "science" and "journalism" these days. I noticed how they threw in prisons and great white sharks into the mix for sensationalist good measure. And notice it wasn't just the "Analyst".

I wonder if the "researcher" and/or "Analyst" are also members of one of the groups trying to ban the aquarium hobby.

 

[DesertOrchid]

I agree with DaveK and Woody! The study was skewed with known aggressive fish and sensationalized with the great white shark comment. Seriously if this 'study' was meant to be anything but pandering to the groups that want to ban our hobby there would have been many species studied not just the ones that would 'prove' their study right. Many people that keep fish are very aware of the requirements to keep their wetpets happy and healthy. Spending small fortunes to attain this and research to insure the best we can do. Too bad there is so much of this misinformation out there misleading the uninformed.

 

[LuckyInk]

I think you guys should read the actual study before dismissing it as fodder. And yes, the study is on cichlids, but are they that much different than a damsel or basslet? Their behavior patterns are very similar. While the article may be slanted to sensationalism, the study is not. Below is a synopsis of the study.

Many species of fishes are aggressive when placed in small aquaria. Aggression can negatively affect the welfare of those individuals toward whom it is directed. Animals may behave aggressively in order to defend resources such as food, shelter, mates, and offspring. The decision to defend depends on the distribution of resources and on ecological factors such as number of competitors, amount of available space, and amount of habitat complexity. This study tested the effects of these factors on aggression in a common aquarium fish, the Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellus). The study found that time spent behaving aggressively was not associated with small-scale differences in group size or available space. Aggression was significantly lower in a large aquarium with a complex habitat. Aquaria of sizes typically used in the companion animal (pet) hobby did not provide optimal welfare for cichlids housed with aggressive conspecifics. The public should be aware that this and similar species require larger aquaria with complex habitat, which elicit more natural behavior.

 

[catran]

Cramped conditions are certainly a cause. And poor fish choices for the environment available, and poor decisions on mixing species I might add. And poor advice from many LFSs from sea to shining sea doesn't help either.

I agree. No one argues the domestication of dogs and cats either...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Lemonpeel]

Yes, but what I have noticed in my African Cichlid tank is that crowding limits aggressiveness. I'm not saying that I severely overstock my tank, just a fish or 2 where it is a fresh water tank. But, It sounds like a load of bologna to me. South American cichlids are one of the most aggressive freshwater fish on the market. I find them completely different than a damsel or a Basslet. You can add more than one damsel to your tank if it is large enough and at the same time and this will allow them to get used to the tank and stake out territories without getting in each others way. I have not noticed this with South American Cichlids.