He's a rubber-lipped Plecostomus. Generally, these are docile fish. I chose him for that and for the fact that they remain fairly small - I didn't want a foot long fish taking up half the tank.
I've owned him since July 2005, and he's great as fish go. But he's been growing more aggressive and territorial in the past year. And with the new fish, he's really not happy. When he's upset, his coloration changes - he's normally a slate gray color, but when he's out throwing his weight around, his color will become more pinkish around his face. The problem is he's taking out his frustration on the other tank residents...he's been attacking the other 2 algae eaters, which haven't suffered any physical damage, but the stress isn't good for them.
Naturally, once I started looking up aggressive tendencies in this species, I found that they sometimes become territorial. Evidently I've got one of those.
I'm not sure what to do, if it keeps up I may have to set up a separate tank for him and let him live out his grumpy life in solitude, if that's what he really wants. It's a shame, because he's a beautiful fish.
The other fish I got? Well...I'd love to show you their photos, but getting fish to sit still for the camera isn't very easy. So here's some stock photos:
I bought 5 Red-Eye Tetras...really striking in the aquarium. Their tails have a splash of gold color that contrasts with the black band at the tail - ...these are schooling fish, so they have formed their own little clique.
I also bought one red tailed shark...it's more closely related to Carp than traditional sharks, but gets the name from the appearance. This is a little one, only about an inch long right now. But it shouldn't get to be more than 3 inches when fully grown. Beautiful little fish.
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