Fellow hobbyist, Here is my scenario I have a 55G which I had a 4"zz fish. Expecting a new fish I put a clear Divider in the middle. Yesterday the other pearl ZZ arrived and since then my original ZZ main focus is trying to get to the other fish. here are my concerns..

1) IS this normal? I find that it puts lots of stress to both fish trying to get to each other.

2) My first ZZ has lost it's appetite and all it wants to do is go thru the clear divider.

3) I did notice that both Kok got bigger but my original ZZ has lost some of it's coloration.

4) will time takes it's course and both fishes relax eventually?

please let me know what is the best thing to do..

very concerned hobbyist
Mike

Mike, this is what we call Kok training.

1) FH is territorial so they will do whatever they can to rid of other FHs in his environment.
2) He will eat. It is just new to him, got preoccupied a bit. Don't worry.
3) Yes, Kok will get bigger over time. The beauty of FH is the color will continue to change as he matures.
4) No, they will never relax as long as they can see each other, ha ha.

Eventually when one of the FH grows bigger to more than 8 or 9 inches, you should just have him by himself in the 55 gallon tank. More tanks !! ha ha.

For right now, they both can be in the same 55 gallon for the Kok training. Just be sure that the clear divider is securely "locked" or anchored to the tank, OK?

Enjoy the interactions with them and keep an eye on them !

It's an awesome thing to watch 2 FH's go at it through a divider!!! The aggression in these fish is just unreal!!!! I would think eventually they will get used to each other to a degree but eventually you will need to separate them. Like vloh said, make sure your divider is secure so that you wont lose one of you FH's. "o"/ Thats not a good thing to lose something you spent alot of money on. Take care bro and....

Thanks guys..These fishes are awesome going back and forth the whole day..not even a coffee break. Yes I will keep an eye on them. How long should I keep them like this?

Mike

You can leave them that way as long as their size are not too big for the tank. Typically it is recommended to have 1 adult FH (8 to 9 incher) per 40 to 50 gallon of water.

If you can't stand to watch that, get another tank and only keep 1 FH per tank. However, for Kok training, you can use a mirror to train them for a few hours a day.

Hope this helps.

Although this may intially seem like stress to the fish, it actualyl is beneficial in bringing out the head and the color. It's almost like a testosterone boost for the fishes!

The fact that you have 2 aggressive fish is a very good thing!

NICE.. its normal

Ay it really is a sight to see...i find that with females they lose their color and get really dark..but then with males they seem to be very vibrant ..i guess it relates to the type of fh you have..all in all it' sreally fun to see them try to go at it..even crazier when they lip lock..

Jon

here is a pic of my fishes sparring....

here is another pic

and another one....day two and still going at it!!!!

Mike, the divider look a bit too thin to me and the suction cups you use will deteriorate after a few weeks and they will come apart especially with the 2 "kids" sparring at it all the time. Do change the divider to a thicker 3/8" or at least 1/4" plexi and buy some of the black suction cups from Bill or Andy.

Val,

thanks for the input where can I get the thicker plexi again? Home depot right? I ordered some suction cups from bill, probably have to order more. Thanks agin val

At times, prolong "sparring" sessions will stress your fish. If possible, I would advise you not to let them look at each other for too long. A couple hours a day will do.

Thanks jason the rate it is going they will destroy my divider in no time. these guys hate each other

, I know they are inseparable. Try to get a proper partition for them. I am anticipating that in a short while, one of them will knock down the partition. And you will be seeing a lot of .