I'm currently having a debate with the head of animal welfare (call him G) in our department.
He suggests that, as Ad Koning suggested, it is actually harmful for a male cichlid to remain in constant dominant colouration. He says that Koning suggested in the wild the male does not remain in this colouration for as long as he does in aquaria because he is not always the dominant nor is he surrounded by females constantly. So, G suggests that when we keep males in the conditions we do in our aquariums and we get those gorgeous colours we are actually harming our fish if this occurs for long periods of time. He says this is why they don't live as long in our tanks as they do in the wild.
On my side, I've known people who have had fish live years longer than they do in the wild. My supervisor even says ours are older than the average life span in the wild. So, to me I don't see the males be in in constant dominant colouration to be a negative or to be causing undue stress. However, as the Koning material was not published in a scientific manner I can't find exactly what he said on it unless I spend a lot of money on his book. This leaves me unable to fully properly argue.
So, this leaves me with two questions:
1) does anyone know if that appears in one of the old editions of his book so that I could get it cheaper
2) I'm curious on your thoughts. Do you think this is harming our fish?
He suggests that, as Ad Koning suggested, it is actually harmful for a male cichlid to remain in constant dominant colouration. He says that Koning suggested in the wild the male does not remain in this colouration for as long as he does in aquaria because he is not always the dominant nor is he surrounded by females constantly. So, G suggests that when we keep males in the conditions we do in our aquariums and we get those gorgeous colours we are actually harming our fish if this occurs for long periods of time. He says this is why they don't live as long in our tanks as they do in the wild.
On my side, I've known people who have had fish live years longer than they do in the wild. My supervisor even says ours are older than the average life span in the wild. So, to me I don't see the males be in in constant dominant colouration to be a negative or to be causing undue stress. However, as the Koning material was not published in a scientific manner I can't find exactly what he said on it unless I spend a lot of money on his book. This leaves me unable to fully properly argue.
So, this leaves me with two questions:
1) does anyone know if that appears in one of the old editions of his book so that I could get it cheaper
2) I'm curious on your thoughts. Do you think this is harming our fish?