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Steatocranus casuarius

bassic

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
15
Hello everyone,

I obtained a small group of F0 Steatocranus casuarius. I have four in a 55 with a few other westies. There's definitely a pair bond and I see two hanging out together all the time. They've picked one half of the tank as their territory. I have noticed that the male has gotten significantly more aggressive and chases off everyone that comes near 'their' half of the tank. The female chases off intruders sometimes, but not as aggressively as her mate.

My question is: over the past week or so, I've noticed that their aggression is much stronger. The female is eating pretty voraciously; however, the male hasn't been eating anything. His behaviour is still strong in protecting his territory, just that he isn't eating. Have any of you seen this? I've kept these guys before and have never seen them do this...

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Best regards,
-duc nguyen.
 

tjudy

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,822
Location
Stoughton, WI
If you are overly concerned about the male not eating (getting so thin he look emaciated) you can separate him. I would not worry about it though. If he appears more concerned with defending his territory than feeding, remove all the othe cichlid. Steatocranus are pair bonding breeders, and usually do not need other cichlids in the tank to maintain breeding aggression. They will also raise multiple broods of fry of different ages, so there si no need to separate fray from the adults as they grow.
 

Randall

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,164
Location
New Jersey, USA
Hello Duc,

Have you ruled out disease? If your male Steatocranus casuarius is not eating, this may indicate that something is wrong. If he is defending a territory, however, this is a good sign. Keeping a close eye on him may be a good idea for the time being.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn
 

bassic

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
15
hello

Hello Duc,

Have you ruled out disease? If your male Steatocranus casuarius is not eating, this may indicate that something is wrong.

Hello Randall,
Thank you for responding back. The pair is still together defending their territory. Unfortunately, I still haven't seen him eat. Over the past few days, I've seen him go for food. He'll take in food but just spits it out. The female is eating pretty well. He displays in front of her and chases off other fish. I'm not sure what's going on. He doesn't appear stressed or anything. I'm just worried if he has bloat or something.

Any input would be most appreciated.

Thanks so much,
-duc nguyen.
 

Randall

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,164
Location
New Jersey, USA
Hello Duc,

If your male is displaying and defending a territory, he sounds pretty healthy. I don't think a sick fish would exhibit this kind of behavior.

Have you tried feeding different foods? In nature (the lower Congo system), S. casuarius is found in waters with less current than the other species of the genus, and it eats a lot of algae (Roberts & Stewart, 1976). Offering algae tablets or flakes as well as frozen insect larvae (blood worms, glass worms, etc.) may be more to your fish's liking.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn
 

bassic

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
15
it worked!

Have you tried feeding different foods? In nature (the lower Congo system), S. casuarius is found in waters with less current than the other species of the genus, and it eats a lot of algae (Roberts & Stewart, 1976). Offering algae tablets or flakes as well as frozen insect larvae (blood worms, glass worms, etc.) may be more to your fish's liking.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn
Hello Randall,

I just tried what you suggested with frozen blood worms. The male ate them! I will alternate with spirulina flakes/wafers so they don't get bloat but will continue with this regiment. Thanks so much for your advice! I just wanted to let you know that it seemed to have done the trick.:) Will keep you posted on their progress...

Thanks again,
-duc nguyen.
 

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