• 12 years ago
Shaan Stevens - Saltwater Aquarium Fish Compatibility,Shaan Stevens - Saltwater Aquarium Fish Compatibility,Shaan Stevens - Saltwater Aquarium Fish Compatibility,When it comes to purchasing fish or other livestock for a saltwater aquarium, the first thing you need to understand about the animals is their compatibility. In other words, why they act as they do towards one another. Whether choosing a fish-only tank or a reef system, without knowing about a particular animal's ability to reside peacefully or not with other tank inhabitants can quickly lead to disaster.
In Martin A. Moe Jr.'s "Marine Aquarium Handbook" he outlines the following types of aggressive behavior in a marine aquarium under the Compatibility section. We will give you a brief explanation of each category he discusses to help you better understand how fish interact with one another in many different ways, and for many different reasons. For more in depth information we suggest you buy "The Marine Aquarium Handbook; Beginner to Breeder" by Martin A. Moe, Jr. It's a handy book to have in your reference library, and he covers this topic in great detail.

There are five basic categories of aggressive behavior. Any particular fish can be either the instigator and/or the recipient of one or a combination of these behaviors. For example: A pair of Damsels may instinctively try to defend their nest from a Lionfish while trying to keep from being eaten themselves.

Predator/Prey
The recipients of this type of aggressive behavior are perceived as food organisms, such as a Moray Eel consuming an ornamental shrimp, or a Lionfish consuming a small Damselfish. This category is pretty much self explanatory. It is obvious that keeping larger predatory fish with anything small enough that they can perceive as food is not a wise idea. Many aquarists choose to keep these types of fish in a specific predatory tank community, with fish like large Groupers, Hawks, Snappers and other predatory species.

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