Posted by ken girard on April 02, 2002 at 14:56:43:
In Reply to: Undulated and Niger Breeding? posted by Hermit on March 26, 2002 at 11:26:04:
: I currently have an undulated and niger trigger in a 150g tank. At first they seemed to be a bit violent with each other, but after 1 single fight and the addition of more rocks, I noticed that they had calmed down. Both of them sustained a lot of damage during that fight. The niger is about 3 inches long, and the undulated is slightly smaller. The whole thing is that they have not fought or shown signs of territorial dominance since that one fight, and now they appear to be fighting quite often, but never damage each other. Usually it will appear very akwardly because the fish dance with each other as if they are mating. I am familiar with breeding bettas, and it resembles a mating dance very close. My wonders are- Is it scientifically possible for an undulated and niger to mate? About what size/age does sexual maturity kick in? Any info will help, thanks.
It would be almost impossible for your two triggers to mate as they are two different genera. I believe that the behavior you are seeing is still territorial/dominance behavior. Many of my cichlids do the same thing and most are still too young to mate.
The size you mention that your fish are is pretty small for either of them to be sexually mature at this time. Most Triggers are sand breeders, breeding in a pit in the ocean floor that the male makes and tries to entice the female into to lay eggs.
But, after saying all this, you never know what will happen in a tank in captivity. Keep us posted.
Good luck
Ken
