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Originally Posted by artdutra04
Mine never seemed to last more than three or four years. Except for one which lasted for five years, and that one ended up eating all the other fish.  I always irked me when I would go to bed, and the next morning there would always be one less fish. It must have felt like Aliens or something to those poor fish. |
We had two other fish when we got him, but they only lasted a few weeks. Then we got two more. One died after about 5 years and the second died last year. I think the survivor is some kind of super fish. The others would get sick and he'd be fine. He's survived plagues that brought mortal fish close to their deaths.
When his oldest buddy died, he actually started to go a little crazy. He was really jumpy and would swim into the glass at full speed. If you got near the tank and he didn't see you coming, he would get the "deer in the headlights look" for a second then take off. He even spent a few weeks moving all the rocks to one side of the tank. I put them back after cleaning the tank, but he would just move them again. We finally decided to get more fish and he was fine again.
He did try to eat his new friends for the first few days, but they were too fast (1" fish are faster and more maneuverable than a 7" fish). After awhile, he gave up and accepted them. They're not afraid of him any more and he doesn't chase them around. But, as with all of his previous tank mates, he has to eat first. Nobody else gets food until his mouth is full and he's busy chewing. Anybody who tries to break the rule gets pushed away or nibbled at.