Golden Orfe Bully or Playmate??

[eddwood]

My golden orfe is chasing my blue orfe around the tank, and keeps head butting it, almost rubbing heads, and knocking it up against the glass. I know Orfe are territorial fish, but they have always lived together, and are the same age/size. Just recently I have noticed the golden orfe chasing my comet around the tank in the same way. I haven't noticed any marks or bruises on the blue orfe or comet, or any signs of disease i.e white spot, velvet or slime disease (which have these rubbing symptoms) on the golden orfe. Can anyone put my mind at rest??

eddwood

[hammerman]

Right....Orfe (all colour varieties) are social shoaling fish which are not terratorial at all (very few coldwater fish are terratorial....the stickleback being one).

Orfe do however grow big and the grow big very quickly. They require clean, well filtered and well oxygenated water and the hate high temperatures.

I would imagine that your orfe are being social but you will not be able to keep them in a tank for long.....i have 9 in the pond at work and they're 18" long and love the space the 100' long pond gives them !!!