Death of a mate

M

mollie

AC Members
Feb 13, 2002
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Oz
OK, I know that this is about a catfish, but it more of a general fish question so I thought I would put it in here.

Has anyone ever had a fish die because they pined after a mate that recently died. I had an established breeding pair of plecos up until 4 weeks ago when one of them got stuck under a rock and ended up dying from the resulting injuries (btw, the offending rock is now gone). My other pleco seemed fine for 2 days afterwards, but then stopped eating and died within a week of the other. There were no visible signs of anything going wrong and all water parameters were fine. I sort of got upset and thought not much more of it until last week.

I had a pair of kribs (in another tank) that had the female die. Within 2 days the male was also dead. Now this got me thinking, do our fishie friends start getting stressed when their mate dies?

All of the other fish in both of these tanks are fine and there had been no other deaths in the tanks for about 4 months preceding all of this.
 
I don't know the answer, mollie, but I have thought about that in regard to my 2 bronze cories. I have had them 7-1/2 years, now. They are totally inseparable. I don't think I've ever seen them not together for more than 5 seconds at a time. I know they are getting on in years and I am really scared of what might happen if one dies, I am sure the other will die of heartbreak.

edit... I just thought of something. I once had a pair of angelfish for many years. When one died, I tried to introduce another but the original would have none of it. He lived a few months after that by his lonesome, with only an algae eater for company.
 
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I have no idea if fish can be monogamous, but it certainly sounds like it. It's very sad when you think about it. We eat something that is capable of affection and has a "connection" with another animal. I have a leporinus that I would swear is capable of reason. She is very inquisitive and "finds" things. I will hate to see her go someday.

DrD
 
Hmmm....I've heard of BIRDS dying shortly after their mates, but fish? I've heard stranger things, I suppose. They do choose individual mates, after all....

I've seen something similar happen to two fish I used to have....I had a barracuda and a featherfin eel in the same tank (they had been raised in the same tank....); when the 'cuda died, the eel stopped eating. I took him back to the lfs after a couple of days, because I was afraid of this very thing. (That, and I was very upset with the whole "aggressive fish" thing and was ready for a complete new setup with nice fish that wouldn't need feeders to live).

It could be as "romantic" as the fish mourning itself into oblivion, or it might be as simple as a shared disease that we are unaware of....lots of explanations, but I kind of like to think our fish are "feeling" creatures...
 
I've never had an angelfish live more than 2 months after their mates died, except for one sly old black that picked up a new girlfriend. Had to trade in a proven pair to get her, but he was worth it. Angelfish are most definately monogomous, and some won't accept a new mate after theirs dies.
 
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