Badis Question

[starrynightxxi]

i have two male scarlet badis in my twenty gallon tank. For the most part they leave one another alone and there are enough caves and plants, and a LOT of java moss for hiding in though occasionally they get into scuffles.

I did some rearranging today so i was expecting some territory disputes, but was completely unprepared to see what they did. At one point they wrapped around one another (the way anabantoids - and from what i've heard, these guys - do while breeding). Immediately following the wrap they went their seperate ways.

Now, I have no reason to think either of these fish is female judging by behavior and color (not to mention no eggs), so i don't think this was breeding behavior. I'm just curious if anyone knows if this sort of wrap is a common dominance tactic because i've never seen it before.

 

[Dwarfs]

I've never seen two male badis do that...
It could just be that they were confused by the redecorating, or they have very strange ways of showing dominance
Keep an eye on them, in case one does give a reason to be female

 

[starrynightxxi]

let me just tell you, it sure threw me for a loop i wonder if it wasn't a matter of them being in the throes of war and some random muscle memory kicked in. it was pretty funny, regardless.

 

[jollysue]

I had scarlet dario dario for some time and never saw that either. I assume we are refering to the same little 3/4" buggers. I have badis badis of some variety now for 5 or 6 months (3" variety) and have not seen that. Of course the ones I have now are barely adults. Really I never saw aggression from either of these. The scarlets never did well and slowly disappeared. They were so small, they may have starved for all I know. They were in a community tank. The badis badis are doing well but they stay to their own territory. Although I believe I just saw what appears to me to be a female exiting a male's cave yesterday. But still no aggression.

 

[starrynightxxi]

yup! dario dario. 3/4-1" little boys. They've only ever had one fight that was nasty, but for the most part it's a little flare, a little chase, and everyone's returned to their own territory. The one nasty fight was because the dominant fish took a LONG time before he started eating and the subdominant took less time (though he also took his sweet time), bulked up, and took over. That was a rough fight, or so i assume because i didn't see it, but i DID see that the fat fish had taken over and they were both a little scruffy looking. that healed though, and like i said, there haven't been any real problems since. plus i added a LOT more java moss which is like dario dario heaven

depending on what was in your tank, it's possible they did starve. mine are slow eaters. In fact I always overfeed just so i can be sure that they will get some.

i think they are very much like the wild bettas, in that you can keep them together and they may display a little, but provide enough territory and cover and it's all gravy

 

[jollysue]

My ony live food is blackworms. I feed them regularly, but sometimes I had to wait for a supply this last winter during the floods in the river, so it was flake. I don't know if the scarlets took any. Once I left town, and they got flake from a feeder. Just don't know if they would eat it. Also there's no guarantee that a larger fish didn't get them. I added Emperor Tetras, a pretty large fish compared to the scarlets. They keep to the top half also.

The scarlets hung at the top in the plastic floating plants. I always fed some worms right into the plants for them and the honeys. Now both are gone.

Yeah I researched them some. Had hoped to set them up in a breeder tank eventually, just never had a chance to get to it.

 

[starrynightxxi]

the top, huh? see, mine will travel all over the tank, but they prefer their little java moss forests. Perhaps it just depends the planting on each level. I haven't had the cash recently to go out and get the tall plants i want so I guess they felt exposed.

I guess with large fish they could have been eaten, but i've never heard of tetras eating a fish that wasn't dead. I suppose it could happen though. They funny little fish though. i always see mine more than I thought I would, being so tiny. Mine aren't in with anything that big, some tetras, a pair of rams, and a swordtail pair. The rams occasionally will get fussy with the scarlets, but they get like that with everybody and never do any real harm. plus, being so tiny, the scarlets can get away into little cracks and crevices the other fish can't. Mostly though, they're ignored. I don't think the rams really see them as a threat because they're quite a bit smaller.

 

[jollysue]

It's my understanding that they like Java Moss also. It is recommendedd for breeding tanks for them. But I think there wasn't a good spot for them on the bottom. I have lots of bottom feeders.