Do fish fight?

Table of Contents

Although not like other animals, fishes also have issues with each other. Sometimes, the problems that arise from within the fishes are often due to territory or mates or even food. It is almost expected for fishes to fight because they are living things and being alive means survival of the fittest- especially in the wild. However, the aggressive nature of fishes differs from fish to fish. Some fishes are not aggressive. Instead, they are on the defense whenever any offense arises. If several fishes are kept or cramped up in a small aquarium or fish tank, there are bound to be lots of fights between the fishes there due to lack of space and sharing of literally everything. No matter how calm a fish is, there is bound to be lots of fighting among the fishes for various reasons. Some aggression in fishes can be due to a shortage of food supply in the fish tank. So the answer is yes, fishes fight. They fight for territory, food, and other things. It can be fun to watch them. However, it is good to stop and prevent the fishes from fighting.

 

 

Do fish fight
Do fish fight

How Do I Know My Fish Are Fighting?

Often, people confuse fish mating with fighting. If a fish is mating, there would be chasing between the male and the female. On the other hand, when a fish is fighting with another fish, if you are watchful and always around your fish, it will be easy to know. One fish, either the more powerful one or the older one, will be aggressive to the other fish who is weaker and younger. The weaker fish would be seen backing up against a corner- cowering away, while the stronger one forges ahead with aggression. It is easy to spot, especially if you know the species of your fish and its characteristics and way of behaving.  When fishes fight it is usually because of several reasons which are not that far fetched. When fishes fight, one of the fighters is always oppressed. The one oppressed is usually seen cowering away, shying away from the surface, not participating in activities, and sometimes even afraid of eating. If you notice changes in one particular fish in your aquarium, like hiding under rocks and backing away, when chased by another fish, you will know that the fishes are fighting and that particular fish is being bullied.

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Do Fish Kill Each Other?

Fishes are not the same, so some fishes are carnivorous and others omnivores. Still, the carnivores most often do not eat each other. The aggressive fishes love to pick a fight with other fishes for reasons best known to them, and when they do this–bully other fishes; if the fish is really weak, it can end up with injuries; severe injuries can be life-threatening. These injuries can serve as breeding places for infections, which can end up weakening the immune system of the fish and lead to death. So, yes, fishes can kill each other, but the killing is not direct and immediate.

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Will Betta Fish Kill A Goldfish?

Betta fish, also known as the fighting fish, is one of the most popular pet fish types, just as popular as goldfish. Goldfishes are very hard to maintain because of their constant excretion of ammonia; this can be very detrimental to the health of the betta fish and the temperament of the betta fish. The betta fish is usually aggressive, this means, even though the goldfish is peaceful and on its own, the betta fish will surely try to pick a fight with it. There are some peaceful Betta fishes that can be kept alongside other fishes but not goldfish. Goldfishes are very opportunistic in their diet. They are also very fast– not just in movement, but also in the way they eat. If the goldfish is kept with a betta fish, the probability of eating the food that belongs to the betta fish is 80%.

In some cases, it might even eat well alongside the food belonging to the betta fish. This behavior in the goldfish will indeed aggravate the betta fish, causing lots of fights between them. The goldfish’s ability to mess up the tank within short intervals would also cause aggression from the betta fish, or in severe cases, it can cause ammonia poisoning, which can cause absence in the goldfish. Bow to answer the question we have all been waiting for, “will a betta fish kill a goldfish?”, The answer is no, even though betta fish is aggressive and would want to provoke a goldfish, that doesn’t make it a murderer. Yes, a betta fish is a carnivorous fish, but it would never eat another fish. Its aggression is just a form of it trying to be social.

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Is it Normal For Fish To Fight?

When fishes are kept in tight spaces, they end up fighting with each other. Whenever you see two fishes fighting, it means they are not suitable to be kept together in the aquarium. Fishes sometimes fight if the food given to them is not enough for them to share. Fishes are not voracious eaters, but they still like having their food to themselves without anyone to share with them. Once fish feed is given to fishes cramped together, in about 10 litres of fish tank, it would start a fight between one or two or more.  Territory is important to all animals, including humans. The sense of having a place to hide away from everything when you’re stressed out, especially when things are not going as planned– that place where we can have alone time away from anything unpleasant. That place– our territory that makes us release our stress, is worth fighting for and worth chasing anyone away who wants to take it from us. This is the same with fishes; fishes all have a spot in the aquarium they go to relax and rest when they feel tired and stressed, especially when they aren’t being taken care of properly. These fishes fight to reclaim ownership of that spot or territory that belongs to them. If the fish tank is small and housing a large number of fishes, it can make it more likely that the fishes will fight for territory and food too. Also, unfavorable living conditions can aggravate fishes, and cause them to fight each other. Although there are naturally aggressive fishes who would try to pick a fight with other fishes for little or no reason. Hence, when fishes fight, it’s not normal, and the owner has to check if the fishes are well taken care of, if they are compatible or if the living conditions are suitable for them.

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How Do Fighting Fish Fight?

When they fight, there is a usual sequence before it unfolds. When the males come in contact with one another and are ready to fight each other, there is a change in the shade of their colour to a deeper shade. They bring out their fins, and they also open their operculum to challenge their opponent. They unfurl a gauzy flare around their chin area in order to look larger and more intimidating than they are, especially when looked at from the front angle. Most fighting fishes are territorial, and they fight mostly aggressively. After making its front angle bigger than it is, the fighting fish will wait for a similar display of power from its opponent. When the opponent turns a deeper shade of its colour and flares its gill cover, they start the fight by lashing out at each other. The lashing out is with their tails; that is, they slap each other with their rigid tails or even display butting heads. 

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Fighting fishes that are aggressive do not initiate a fight with a fish that is stronger than they are; they gauge the other fish to know if they are a match for them. The fight gets violent when they are of equal strength, and none refuses to cower out of fear of being overpowered. They don’t only slap their tails on the opponent as a weapon; they also bite their opponent. The fight gets violent till one is exhausted and wants to bow to defeat and take the walk of shame. During the fight, both fishes turn around and spin while lashing each other with their tails and biting each other. Fishes are animals that get easily stressed, and stress is usually not healthy, so when they get tired of fighting, they gulp more water and extract oxygen from it; that is, they respire deeply. If the fight’s loser can swim away fast, away from the winner, then the fight ends. Most times, the fight does not end in death, could lead to injuries in the fins or a wound in the eye, which could be tough healing and could even breed infection. Also, the outcome of a fight is usually stress, which can be detrimental to the fish’s health.

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How To Stop Fish From Fighting?

Fishes are adorable animals that should be treated right and not as ornaments used to decorate a place. People sometimes enjoy watching fishes fight and have no intention whatsoever, to stop the fishes from fighting. Watching fish is a form of entertainment for them, not minding if it’s stressful for the fish or one of the fishes is bullied by another fish. It’s, however, very necessary to take action whenever your fishes fight in order to avoid your fish being stressed out. As we already know, fishes don’t cope well with stress, and it can be very detrimental to their health and even their lifespan–stress shortens their lifespan, and it causes death in some fishes, this is why it’s very important to take action immediately when you notice that your fishes are fighting. To stop the fishes from fighting each other is not hard, and it’s even relatively easy.

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The first thing to do when you notice your fishes fighting is to check if the fish tank or aquarium is filled up with fishes, more than its carrying capacity. The standard carrying capacity of fishes staying in an aquarium or tank is one fish per liter. Anything more than one fish per liter is asking for trouble in the fish tank. Also, it’s essential to check if the feed is enough for the fishes. If the fish feed thrown into the water is minimal compared to the number of fishes housed in the tank, it will make them fight for the food, with the stronger, overpowering the weaker ones, and eating all the feeds, leaving the weak ones hungry. That is why it’s important to feed them well. Also, changing the water regularly could help prevent the fish from fighting. When the water is changed and monitored, every fish would have sufficient oxygen and would not need to fight another fish. It is also good to avoid giving an excess feed, which can, later on, serve as a pollutant. Most importantly, it is good to put fishes together that are compatible with each other, so the aggressive fish do not end up bullying the other fish to death.

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Are My Fish Fighting Or Playing? 

Like other animals, sometimes, when they fight, it looks as though they are playing and vice versa. Swimming after each other is a type of play in fishes, and it’s very normal for them to do that when they’re trying to socialize, build acquaintances and friendship with each other. Still, it is good to be on the lookout to know if fighting is causing is taking place since fighting is very stressful to fishes. Although most times, it’s easy to tell when a dog is playing or fighting, in fishes, it is more subtle but still noticeable. When fishes are fighting, you would see nipped or injured fins, and you would find one cowering and trying to hide from the one chasing it. That is when you know your fish is fighting.

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Are My Fish Fighting Or Mating?

If a fish is about to mate, there are signs–physical signs that show that either the male or the female fish is ready to mate. Firstly, in the female, there is a kind of robustness and roundness made manifest in the body of the male; on the other hand, there is a change in colouration of the fins or scales; when you notice these signs, you would know that the fish is ready to mate. Mating in fishes is chased and fertilized, where the male chases the female around in the aquarium to fertilize her eggs. If a fish is fighting, you’d easily know because one will be on the defense while the attacker attacks. Mating is very different from fighting as there is no confrontation like a thing done during the mating process. If you have a male and a female fish in your fishbowl, aquarium, or fish tank, it is most likely that they are mating, and this is their mating ritual. When mating is involved, both parties– the male and the female will be actively involved– the male chasing after the female and the female also swimming fastly away. When the male catches up to the female, they rub themselves against each other, and there is a visible sign of the female laying eggs afterward and the male fish fertilizing them soon after. To know if a fish is fighting, you would see the other fish being chased after hiding from the fish- the aggressive one trying to bully it. Sometimes, the bullied fish hides under a rock or anything that can hide it away from the feisty fish. It also doesn’t swim to the top. It will rather stay at rock bottom to avoid being oppressed by the aggressive fish. So if you see any signs of fear in one of the fishes in question, you should know it is a fight going on and not coupling.

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Conclusion 

Fishes do not fight to get rid of each other; that is, kill each other, they fight to claim territory (to be left alone to enjoy their haven), and they also fight for food. Fighting could pose serious health threats to fishes, hazards like; stress, injuries, infections, and in some fatal cases, death. This is why it is, however, imperative to prevent your fishes from fighting by either separating the aggressive ones from others and give them a broader area to swim around. When dealing with aggressive fishes, it is essential to put them in a separate tank to stress other fishes. Fishes will not fight if adequate measures are taken to avoid it.

Hazel Buckley
Hazel Buckley

About Hazel Buckley
Hazel is an animal enthusiast and educator who grew up on a farm which her parents owned in Ingogo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.  The farm was situated right under the Majuba Mountains - the site where the Anglo-Boer War was fought. 

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