Uaru Help

[mambee]

I have had 2 10" Uarus for about 4 years. They may or not be a pair (produced eggs but could be 2 females), and they generally get along and are inseparable.

One of my regular water changes initiated some spawning behavior, resulting in one fish being pursued all over the tank. Uarus are pretty sensitive, and the pursued one got pretty banged up.

I bought some egg crate at Home Depot and kept them separated for a week, but the chasing started again as soon as I took out the partition. I now have the dominant fish walled off. The funny part is that the other fish spends all of his/her time at the barrier.

Do you think that they will ever get along again? How long should I keep them separated?

Mike

 

[KarlTh]

I've seen this behaviour with Bettas; the female gets beaten to shreds; you separate them and she can't wait to get back in. I wonder if a similar thing is happening here? What sort of decor is there in this tank? 150 gallons is big, but then a 10" Uaru is a BIG fish.

 

[Star_Rider]

this happens at times with some of my pairs(angels)
in some cases I have to separate the pair(separate tanks).. sometime results in a permanent separation.

you'll have to 'play it by ear' for a bit to see if things calm down.

 

[KarlTh]

I've also had situations where once a breeding pair was disturbed it ended in a permanent separation.

 

[mambee]

My decor is pretty spare, just bogwood and sand. I'd love to use live plants, but my Uarus attack anything that is green. They stripped my Java Fern like old people at an all-you-can-eat salad bar.

The sub-dominant fish maintains a sideways position all day by the egg crate.