Red Wolf!

[jjohnwm]

I like the way mine typically behaves; he is often on display and very outgoing...but he is also often so thoroughly hidden that even careful observation fails to turn him up. But just stepping toward the tank or turning on the room lights brings him out in a rush, looking for food. And he still hasn't figured out that the red laser dot just isn't edible...

I have a friend who visits semi-regularly, and he just doesn't see the appeal of a fish like this. He wants big, colourful fish floating around placidly all day, never hiding or lurking. He also belongs to the "How many fish can I jam into this tank?" school of thought.

We have spirited discussions on this topic, among others...

 

[jjohnwm]

The Red Wolf is in one of his moods again; haven't seen him, other than as a shadowy silhouette inside a hunk of pipe, in several days. It's puzzling behaviour; for days or weeks at a time, he is dancing around near the surface the moment I appear, hoping for food. Then, for no apparent reason, he just gets into a snit and vanishes. During these periods, he might still come out for food...but he might not...and when he displays himself he will eat, but when he's in hiding and I introduce a food item, he likely won't even come out.

This seems even stranger when you consider that he is no longer fed daily. He's a bit over 6 inches now, maybe 6.5, and I feed him more or less every other day, sometimes even skipping a couple day...so you'd think that when feeding time comes, he'd be especially ravenous. But no...when he feels like eating, he eats, as aggressively as ever...but again, he might just decide not to show up, but a few hours later, he eats.

Any sudden change in behaviour in any fish is, IMHO, something that should be looked upon as a possible sign of a problem. None comes to mind here. Nothing has changed in terms of water parameters, flow rate, lighting, and the fish presents itself as healthy, colourful, alert...when it presents itself at all.

I have been considering moving him to a 70-gallon tank that is plumbed together with my Jelly Cat's 200-ish gallon tank, which would mean that the Wolf would essentially be living in a "display sump" on the lower level, sharing filtration, heating, etc. But his behaviour is so strange even when he is not undergoing any changes that I am loathe to introduce another variable into his weird world view. He would be looking at my big feet walking back and forth in front of him regularly; considering that moving into his relatively quiet 40gallon tank when I first got him sent him into hiding for weeks...what will he do if I expose him to much more activity?

 

[Deadeye]

Is there ever a particularly large meal before hiding?
What’s strange is that mine never does this - always out and begging. Definitely less ravenous as he gets older though - still a big appetite but he doesn’t hit every pellet like he used to.
I doubt it is a fish that would be overly bothered by extra activity, but any change would likely scare it for a bit. Mine only does react to me though - he’s shy around anyone else, I’m sure that if yours is the same it would react poorly to a change in scenery.

 

[jjohnwm]

Is there ever a particularly large meal before hiding?
What’s strange is that mine never does this - always out and begging. Definitely less ravenous as he gets older though - still a big appetite but he doesn’t hit every pellet like he used to.
I doubt it is a fish that would be overly bothered by extra activity, but any change would likely scare it for a bit. Mine only does react to me though - he’s shy around anyone else, I’m sure that if yours is the same it would react poorly to a change in scenery.

No, I don't ever feed truly large meals. In fact, perhaps this has something to do with his behaviour; up until a couple months ago, a significant part of his diet, likely 50%, was wild-caught insects and earthworms with the remainder being pellets. He was smaller and I fed daily, aiming for a visible tummy-bulge at most meals. Those days are gone now until next summer; he now gets pellets, freeze-dried or frozen krill, the occasional frozen Rosy Red, and I occasionally add some snails which apparently are eaten although I have never actually observed that. He is reasonably thick, but not obese.

 

[wolffishlover]

They will fast at times, my old red would go a couple weeks just kinda in a semi dormant state then back to normal like nothing changed. Same with my Curu, will eat like a mad man and be super active then go off of everything and lurks in the drift wood

 

[jjohnwm]

They will fast at times, my old red would go a couple weeks just kinda in a semi dormant state then back to normal like nothing changed. Same with my Curu, will eat like a mad man and be super active then go off of everything and lurks in the drift wood

Thanks for that, it's a relief to hear that this might just be "the way they are". I've had other larger predatory fish, usually catfish, that would occasionally go off their feed for awhile, although I doubt I will ever be completely comfortable when it happens. Most of those fish usually continued to be normally active during those periods, just not interested in eating. The Wolf is my first fish who did this personality-switch by going so inactive, but in hindsight, when he was very active it was all directly related to food...either eating some, or demanding that I give him some. So if his appetite is off, he really has nothing else to spur him into activity.

When he does come out, he is really on display. His colour has not changed much lately; after developing a good smattering of orange markings, his colour and pattern have largely stabilized. He has much much orange on his left side (his "good" side ), and his dorsal fin has become exaggerated into a very impressive "flag".

I need to get some more pics; that likely needs to wait until he gets out of this weird mood. Right now, if I shine the laser dot into his tank when he has decided to go on patrol, he follows it as avidly as ever...but if I run it across the tank when he is in one of his lairs, which is now most of the time, he watches it closely but doesn't attack. Without that dot to help me manipulate his actions...he's a tough target for somebody who can't use a camera...

 

[wolffishlover]

Thanks for that, it's a relief to hear that this might just be "the way they are". I've had other larger predatory fish, usually catfish, that would occasionally go off their feed for awhile, although I doubt I will ever be completely comfortable when it happens. Most of those fish usually continued to be normally active during those periods, just not interested in eating. The Wolf is my first fish who did this personality-switch by going so inactive, but in hindsight, when he was very active it was all directly related to food...either eating some, or demanding that I give him some. So if his appetite is off, he really has nothing else to spur him into activity.

When he does come out, he is really on display. His colour has not changed much lately; after developing a good smattering of orange markings, his colour and pattern have largely stabilized. He has much much orange on his left side (his "good" side ), and his dorsal fin has become exaggerated into a very impressive "flag".

I need to get some more pics; that likely needs to wait until he gets out of this weird mood. Right now, if I shine the laser dot into his tank when he has decided to go on patrol, he follows it as avidly as ever...but if I run it across the tank when he is in one of his lairs, which is now most of the time, he watches it closely but doesn't attack. Without that dot to help me manipulate his actions...he's a tough target for somebody who can't use a camera...

Yeah man I wouldnt stress out too much. They are some super hardy fishes and it doesnt bother me leaving for 3-5 days and him not eating. Might not be how everyone does it but if hes not "hungry" and out waiting for food, I dont feed

 

[jjohnwm]

Yeah man I wouldnt stress out too much. They are some super hardy fishes and it doesnt bother me leaving for 3-5 days and him not eating. Might not be how everyone does it but if hes not "hungry" and out waiting for food, I dont feed

Lol, thanks for the reassurance. I have no problem cutting back feeding now that he's grown out of the starving and emaciated waif he started out as. But, man, this fish is weird.

He now splits his time about 50/50 between patrolling around the tank and hiding out in a cave. When on patrol, if I offer food he will eat; when he is in hiding, it seems to mean that he isn't interested in food and I don't bother. Typically, if he is patrolling he will rush towards the feeding corner as I open the hatch, looking so ravenous that I am always careful to prevent him jumping out, and I certainly wouldn't dip my finger into the water at that point.

Except...when I drop in the food, which at this time of year is usually some floating pellets, with occasionally a frozen/thawed Rosy Red or two...he lunges at it, but stops dead at the last second and examines it minutely before grabbing it. I swear that it looks as though he is suspecting that I might be trying to poison him and he wants to carefully check out whatever I offer. After the first piece is swallowed the rest are eaten without hesitation. Perhaps this is a reaction to the switch back to mainly pellets, after a summer of a richly varied diet of insects, worms and other natural goodies?

Another change in his behaviour appeared after the last time I worked in his tank. He had been patrolling, I offered a fairly large meal, and after he ate it I removed the tank cover and did a major rescape; I removed a lot of moss, ruthlessly thinned out the duckweed, removed some smaller caves and hidey-holes that were now too small for him, did a complete inside glass-cleaning, siphoned the bottom and did a typical 80-90% water change. A lot of commotion for a short time, and he hid in a concrete pipe the entire time. When finished, his tank still had several secure hiding spots and a fair bit of greenery but was much more open than it had been.

That was over a month ago. I expected him to be his normal self the next day. Nope! He is still very skittish after all this time. He charges to the feeding port, to be sure...but too sudden a move on my part will send him undercover, and when that happens even food won't immediately lure him out. This is very unlike his old self; that fish was completely bold and unafraid.

With much of his moss gone, he no longer has huge thickets into which he can retire and then lurk with only his head visible as he once did. His current favourite resting position is atop the large sponge filter in the centre of his tank...but again, he is much more fearful than he had been and a wrong action on my part can send him into hiding. He acts like a fish that was purchased a week or two ago, rather than one who has been in the same tank for 9 months. It took him weeks to really settle in and become confident when I first got him; it now seems to be taking another period of at least a few weeks to recover his composure from a tank-cleaning!

I'd normally be concerned about a sudden change in behaviour...in any fish...thinking that it might be a sign of some problem. I don't think that's the case here; I've just never seen a fish take so long to get comfortable and unafraid. Still a very cool fish; he's in the 6 - 7 inch range, and I have been toying with the idea of moving him to a 70-gallon tank but worry about how long he will take to recover from the shock of a move.

 

[jjohnwm]

Well, this fish, as interesting as he is, is beginning to piss me off. About mid-January, I decided to move ahead with my plan to transfer him to a 70-gallon tank that is the sump for my JellyCat's 200-ish tank. The 70 has a Mattenfilter at one end but is otherwise an open "refugium" so has much more space than the 40 he was in since I got him. I was concerned that he would react poorly to the move; a major tank cleaning was sufficient to put him into a bad mood for weeks; how would he react to being netted and moved?

Well, he reacted...unexpectedly. I had to remove one piece of decor at a time from his old home to locate and net him. He artfully squirmed from one retreat to the next until the tank was empty except for one concrete drainpipe section; slapping a net over each end of this and then tipping it gently into one of the nets corralled him without further incident. He was unceremoniously dumped into the 70, already equipped with several similar retreats, some wood and some driftwood and Guppy Grass. Both the old and the new tanks had just undergone a water-change of roughly 80%, so water parameters were essentially identical. The fish dove into the nearest concrete pipe...

...and emerged within ten minutes to begin a patrol of his new home. He inspected everything, looked in every crevice and covered ever square inch of area...completely ignoring me towering over him. This tank is on the lower level of the stand, so I had feared that watching feet and legs walking past regularly would terrify him. But...he couldn't care less. He was on full display the entire time. I dropped in a few floating carnivore sticks, which he gulped down enthusiastically. I moved about the room, including directly past his tank, all morning and got no reaction.

Outstanding! He was back to being his normal in-your-face fearless self. I wished I had made the move much earlier.

Once again, we were best buds...for several weeks. He ate whenever I offered food, showed off his expansive dorsal fin, and all was good. Then, last week, I went downstairs, casually unscrewed the lid of a food jar and dropped in a half-dozen floating predator sticks. He was ready and waiting; he greedily gulped down 4 sticks, turned his attention to the last two...and turned tail and ran. He dashed into a piece of pipe...and I haven't really seen him since. His silhouette has been visible in this pipe, in that pipe, under that piece of wood...but that's it. No feeding interest, no visible activity of any kind.

I don't mind secretive fish, don't require constant activity...but this is becoming irritating. I chuckle at the frequent comments in various threads about the "personality" of one fish or another. I generally think that personality in a fish is nothing more than a mixture of aggressiveness and becoming habituated to and thus unafraid of humans. But this fish seems to have multiple personalities. I know that...if he were a person...it would be politically incorrect to suggest that he was anything other than slightly different, and should have his idiosyncrasies acknowledged and respected.

But he's a fish, so I'll skip the PC nonsense and just say it...he is simply nuts, and my patience is wearing thin.

 

[Deadeye]

Maybe he got bored of food sticks all of a sudden?