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#1
08/27/2005, 05:25 PM
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Killer crosshatches...again!!!
OK, this is getting out of hand. My male crosshatch is definitely not normal. For those that may have missed my prior thread, here it is.
Anyway, today I bought a few corals and the LFS had chromis on sale so I picked up 12 of them. Within minutes, I saw my male crosshatch chase down, kill and consume 3 of them. This is about 2 hours AFTER he had already been fed to until he refused more food. Crosshatches are not known to be piscovorous by nature and as far as triggers go are quite unaggressive. This one is as well, but he seems to think that any new tank additions are food. The tank inhabitants are as follows: 2 Crosshatch triggers (8" & 6") 1 Harelquin Tusk (7") 1 Sailfin Tang (6") 4 Blue Damsels (2") 2 Lawnmower Blennies (4" & 2") 1 Royal Gramma (2") 2 Tomato Clowns (3.5" & 1.5") 1 Harelquin Bass (4") 1 Papuan Toby (3") That's all. In an 8' 300 gallon tank, this can't possibly be overstocked, right? I am at aloss as to why he is going so crazy over new additions. One guess was that I have observed the pair spiraling around recently, almost like they were chasing each other in a tight circle. This coule go on for anout 10-15 cycles then they would stop then start again a few minutes later. It had occured to me that perhaps, though quite unlikely in my mind, it was some sort of breeding behavior that is causing aggression to newcomers that he sees as invading his territory. If this is the case, why then does he not give any sort of chase to others in the tank, even those that were added after him? Any and all help is appreciated. I have thought about dividing him off from new inhabitants if aggression persists or (as in the case of small fish like chromis) the first sign of aggression is also the last. For the record, the female has not chased anything, but she did eat a chromi that the male killed. |
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#3
08/27/2005, 05:52 PM
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First, he wasn't always aggressive. I outlined above how crosshatches usually act. And, the trigger in question has no problem with small damsels, clowns, grammas, etc. In fact the only fish that can't fit in his mouth in a couple bites or more are the other trigger, tusk and tang.
Second, in a 300, 12 inch long chromis is not alot. |
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#7
08/27/2005, 06:55 PM
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Well Crosshatch Triggers are defiantly not commonly considered to be aggressive to the point were they eat other fish. This is a good example of how all fish have their own personality, even within the same species. Unfortunately your male has developed a taste for small fish and now that probably won’t change much. On a positive note your pair of Crosshatch Triggers are one of the most desirable fish in the hobby and most people would do almost anything to own them. I hope things work out OK for you. Good luck.
Dave |
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#8
08/27/2005, 08:36 PM
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First I have heard of a Crosshatch doing some thing like this..... WOW
I do hope it gets better, I would love to have a pair in my tank... Kaye
__________________
The Last Thing Many Fish Will Ever See . . . |
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#9
08/27/2005, 09:18 PM
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your crosshatches might be "mating" and that is why he is overly aggressive to new tankmates? The spiral thing, i believe is the mating dance.
__________________
"we are not here, we are the imagionations of ourselves" |
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#10
08/27/2005, 11:51 PM
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I hope if it is a mating dance that aggression doesn't spread to other established tankmates. It's not even like he only tolerates the others. They might as well be the female they are so close. At times, they even sleep in the same cave etc.
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#14
08/29/2005, 07:07 AM
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Re: Killer crosshatches...again!!!
Bloody hell.... tripple post!!! :P
__________________
Mass spectrometry... about the only thing in the world more expensive than reefkeeping. |
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#15
08/29/2005, 07:07 AM
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Re: Killer crosshatches...again!!!
doh, doublepost!!
__________________
Mass spectrometry... about the only thing in the world more expensive than reefkeeping. |
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#16
08/29/2005, 07:07 AM
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Re: Killer crosshatches...again!!!
Quote:
The little dance is kind or a normal courtship, and crosshatches, while unaggressive, can get substantially more so(like any fish) during mating time. Crosshatch fry tend to hatch very quickly. See if there is any egg tending behavior and pay very close attention to the tank - look for tiny tiny little guys swimming about - you could possibly have fry and they could be in the tank within the next 2-3 days, Unfortunately trigger fry is hard to care for, but if you happen to find some in the tank, can magae to catch a few, if you set up a small fry tank and try feeding rotifers and microplankton,you very well could have some captive bred, tank raised cross hatches  In my best guesses, the behavior should calm down before too long as the mating period comes to an end. Sorry to hear about the fish loss, but personally, I would be very excited in your case, because this sounds to me like captive spawning triggers 
__________________
Mass spectrometry... about the only thing in the world more expensive than reefkeeping. |
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#17
08/29/2005, 08:08 AM
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heres an idea, whats your temp at? If you lower it a few degrees, he will likely calm down with the aggressive attitude. It works with a number of species, why not yours? good luck. Sorry for the expensive dinner.
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#18
08/29/2005, 09:55 AM
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Thanks for all your responses. I have been trying to get pics of the dance, but it is over so quickly that I haven't been lucky yet. I am excited about the idea of spawning triggers and will be on the lookout for eggs or babies. In the meantime, I'll just be extra vigilant and I guess I'll rig up a divider or something if the aggression spreads.
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#20
08/29/2005, 11:19 AM
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I believe what you are talking about is aggression. Our mated pairs of fish sometimes show aggression to each other also. Including our crosshatches, bluethroats, french angels, mac angels, etc. etc. Most times they get along very good but just like any couples, sometimes they don't and they fight a bit. I would find it highly doubtful that crosshatch triggers would ever spawn in an 8' tank. Maybe a tank the size of a olympic swimming pool would be more like it. Just my 2 cents.
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#21
08/29/2005, 11:26 AM
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wow, thats a beautiful fish!
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#22
08/29/2005, 11:29 AM
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People are starting to come forward with accounts of Xanth. species of triggers spawning - and I have heard of blue throats spawning in tanks that were about 300 gallons... granted trigger fry are not easily reared, and in this case the person I was talking to did not try to retrieve or raise the fry.
Sometimes the spiraling behavior among triggers is a mark of aggression - triggers will do a spiraling dance with an adversary and chase them off, but this behavior is only found in a few species, primarily the Balistoides, and is most often seen in Titans. I have never heard of this behavior in any Xanthicth, but I have heard of similar behavior between male and female during courting. In the terms of the Balistoides above the spiraling behavior was often followed by pursuit of the other fish for several meters, and also it tended to involve a balistoid and some other species of trigger - usually a Rhinecanthus aculeatus or R. verucossus, since they all share the same habitat.
__________________
Mass spectrometry... about the only thing in the world more expensive than reefkeeping. |
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#23
08/29/2005, 11:31 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Mass spectrometry... about the only thing in the world more expensive than reefkeeping. |
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#24
08/29/2005, 03:42 PM
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One of the most elegant fish that i ever seen
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#25
08/29/2005, 05:27 PM
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Yes a very beautiful fish and I must say a great photography job. I’m usually very happy and content with the fish that I have but when I see a good picture of someone’s Crosshatch, being content is difficult. I’m not sure if a FO tank has ever been “Tank Of The Month� but perhaps one like yours should be.
Dave |
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