More news.
Buddy the hrp has been moved OUT of the 225 and into the 125 with his kin. He and the blood parrot Boss were at war, and I have no idea why. When the tank was transitioning the two would shoal and eat together. I have no idea what happened but there was a shift to hostility a month or so ago. Hive queen Pip would join in on the fun and it was a two-on-one situation.
For the most part Boss held his own well. His other tankmates avoided involvment. Red rainbow Salt would sometimes take a shot at the hrps but only when annoyed. Hrp Bella basically stayed out the way and ran from Pip or Buddy. So the fights went like this:
Bella and Salt would watch. Boss and Buddy would tangle. Boss stronger, Buddy more stamina.
Pip would strike Boss in the side while the males were engaged. Boss would ignore her hits but would give her a quick pop (like swatting her aside) for interfering. She would juke and act as a distraction while the parrot fought Buddy.
Locking up, advantage Boss
Ambush attack, advantage Buddy
So considering it was 2 on 1 and Boss had no real back up he did extremely well. He was never intimidated but wary and watched for them when cruising the tank. Buddy was a lot bolder when mama Pip got involved. One on one Boss handled him and he would retreat.
I had been monitoring for some time because as usual nobody did anything when I was near the tank. So I started sneaking by the tank at night with the lights out and got more answers that way. Today both fish had some split fins so I'd seen enough.
Buddy didn't get a warm reception in the 125. It was swarming with activity as usual, and full of males his equal size or bigger. He hit the ground running with his fins up in aggressive mode and cruised over to Mongo. Mongo greeted his son with a whack on the nuchal hump. Then Buddy sped past brother Bumper and straight to Hulk who blasted him next. A bit confused now Buddy navigated a wide circle going over to one of the sponge caves. This cave is claimed by his brother Dusty, the mini midas with the red tail. Dusty, the only fish who is Mongo's kryptonite and also gives no fcs about aggressive relatives, flew out of his cave before Buddy could even get close and knocked him away. At this point Buddy darted away and ducked into cover.
For those of you unfamiliar with Mongo he is one of the ancestral King hrps with now over 400 offspring, a pink marble possessing relentless, crazed aggression. He's been jumped, beaten up, chased and attacked. It makes no difference...he stays in kook mode. You can't keep a 'bad' fish down.
In the 225 barring any more craziness, the final crew is set for the new entries this summer. BP Boss, R Rainbow Salt, hrps Bella and Pip and spot the syno. I may move Spot into the breeder with the female clan hrp. I'm making modifications to my approach from my cichlid experiences (which have taught me a lot).
Boss is now 'beaming' his blazing blood color, a cross between neon red and street cone orange. From 10 or 20 feet he's easy to find. I also expect Pip to go into seclusion again now that all of her sons have been removed. She honestly seemed calmest and peaceful when Hulk was with her.
BP Kong has turned piebald again and is sequestered in her 'house' working on eggs.
In the breeder I've made modifications and transferred some of the small hides over. It's really funny the squabbling over the logs and the females dart in and out wildly like they're playing.
