My GT used to be crazy, and chase my JD all around the tank. Al of a sudden she has become docile and doesnt do anything but lay at the bottom of the tank and lets hiim chase her.

Question is..

He stripes are getting darker, maybe this is something that is supposed to happen, but she just lays on her side ALL day by a piece of PVC. She came up to eat today, but I just dont understand what happened to her.

Is she just sleeping? I just have never observed her sleeping before, maybe I just never paid attention..


Is her body getting ready for eggs? I mean I dont recall her ever doing this before laying eggs. Is she that stressed from the Jack? He doesnt beat her up, worst I saw is from when they locked lips and it tore at her lips a little, but no major damage. It looks like he may have nipped at her pectoral fins, but its also possible that its from her running into things..

Could she be mating with him and letting him dominate her? I just dont understand this complete personality makeover. I would think if she was being tortured that badly, he would have pysically harmed her, but she just runs and thhats all that happens.

If you knew this fish you would see why its so strange to me, she was SOOO dominating before. This happened a few days ago. I just cant imagine, if there is something toxic in the tank that was killing her, wouldnt it be killing Jack too??



www.flickr.com/photos/48255158@N06/4425796039/

www.flickr.com/photos/48255158@N06/4426559484/in/photostream/?
www.flickr.com/photos/48255158@N06/4425798517/in/photostream/

My best guess would be that she is laying there because she is stressed. She looks like she is hiding.

The Jack chasing her, although not hurting her could be enough to stress her this much.

Can you try a divider? Or another tank?

Just to see if she stops hiding

Maybe a divider my other tank has two Os and an RD. Probably not a good fit. She used to terrorize the Jack I don't know what happened but he musta showed her whos boss recently and got fed up. She was so much tougher and would stand up to my big Os as little as she is. I dunno something happened to change her personality.

point of clarification: GT is the one that becomes docile?
if there is no heavy breathing or gasping, then perhaps she is
just nesting. tilapia for one used to be aggressive and all of
a sudden, they will stay in their nest...but nobody could come
near to their spot.... please do observe.

yes. She hides in the one spot in the pics now. When she comes up to eat, she will take a couple of pellets and end up running from Jack when he came around.

Yes, thats exactly my point, I feel that there is something bigger than the Jack chasing her to make her hide. She is doing something else. No hard breathing, maybe a little hard when she has just gotten done running. I think that the spot she chose is kinda of strange for nesting though. And if she used to do this before, I never saw it cause she may have been hiding and sleeping.

Do fish that lay eggs need rest time prior to laying?

She is so viscous, I just really want to figure this puzlze out, I know theres more to it than the Jack chasing her. Maybe they are mating, I have heard of Jacks and GT mating...LOL

if either of them is a female and the other one is male, then there is
possibility that when the female lays eggs, the male will fertilized it
and you will have cross breed... i am not sure if JD and GT belongs to
those specie that fertilized eggs no matter who's eggs are they.

I have read online about them breeding before. I know for a fact she is a female, she lays eggs every two weeks. He is a male for sure.. but at what age do they reach sexual maturity (the JD) ? I immediately thought tha they were possibly mating when she completely changed her attitude. Its getting close to the time she should be laying soon, and I just didnt know ifit was possible that he was sexually mature yet. He is about 3-4 inches right now.

Thats pretty much why I posted, because of the drastic attitude change, and they have lived together for a while, but where in a tank with a few other fish. They are finally alone, and I suppose its possible, so thats what this post is about, to get feedback about if what I originally thought was true, because I didnt knwo it was normal for a normally aggressive fish to turn so tolerant that quickly. From what I understand, men are usual dominating the female in a mating ritual. Never know..but they have never really gotten along, it supposed to be because terrors and jacks dont like anyone that looks like them because they see it as a threat.