Bullies : I've Got Your Number

No, not any of the cichlids, even though some of them are trying to pick on the new little juvenile angel recently added, this is more important.

I have been wondering about the fact that the school of C. trilineatus hide virtually all the time, even though I have what must be 11-12 of them (I lost track - maybe reading back further on the blog will reveal the actual number) but I never see them, except when the tank is dark, and only fleetingly.

The first time I noticed this was when I got my awesome Planiloricaria cryptodon (RIP), who one day launched himself completely out of the tank for reasons never to be revealed. After I introduced him to the tank, the cories hid. I figured the whiptail cat was just too big of a presence, and perhaps represented some sort of competitor for resources that they could only understand. Well, he's been gone a while, and still, no cories out and about like they should be. I have accepted this, and continued to feed them out in front of their lair (I can't see into the rock cairn where they hang out), but it has bothered me.

I was watching the tank today for a good long while, sitting very still, and lo and behold, out come the cories! Tres adorable! As soon as they start hunting for morsels, the Ancistrus, both of them (but mainly the male) rushes over and scares them off. Repeatedly. Roughly. Using undue force. I have found the culprits, and they have no whips on their tails, but rather a face full of them.

So, I am not sure what to do about this. The bristlenoses have plenty to eat - they have their choice. They enjoy zucchini, bell pepper, seaweed and cucumber in the veggie clip, always present and available, they enjoy veggie wafers that are dropped in once daily, and they also partake of the sinking particles of food or pellets that were intended for the more carnivorous occupants. They eat everything, including algae on the wood and glass - the male today was obviously eating the floating particles of daphnia (from the frozen cube fed to the angels) out of the water column, which is an interesting sight to see from a suckermouth catfish.

Why would they feel threatened by the cories, or otherwise be trying to prevent them from eating? It makes no sense to me, but I don't guess it should. I am sure it makes perfect sense to them. There is no question that they are chasing the cories off, however. I may wind up putting this pair, or maybe just the male, in the 37-gallon fry growout tank to hold the cycle when I don't have any babies in there, and he can't harass anyone. I like having an algae-eater in the 150, though, but I also like the cories (spent real money for every darn one!) and want to be able to see them, and want them to try to have a less stressful life, as much as can be possible in a glass box in my living room.

I am glad to finally discover a good reason for the cories to be hiding all the time, and now I just have to decide what to do. I will have to research Ancistrus type species (I will check with Deborah but there are probably hundreds) and see if there is something, or even some other type of dwarf pleco that would eat algae and otherwise keep to itself and mind its own business.