fish behaving badly

[heslipst]

Hello all,
I was under the understanding that A. cacatuoides was generally an agreeable fish.
I have an orange flash pair who had been doing very well with the other members of the tank... a young pair of a A. agasizzi and C. maroni in a heavily planted 30 gallon tank. I returned yesterday from a day trip to find my male agasizzi utterly brutalized and my female agasizzi under attack by the cacatuoides. The agasizzi have been removed to recover (hopefully), and I am now witnessing the cacatuoides attack the docile keyholes and my amano shrimp. Did I choose the wrong fish, in the cacatuoides, for my tank?

 

[farm41]

I think 4 pairs is too many fish for your tank, I hope you can reduce that by half. 2 pairs would be much better. 8)

What is a C. maroni?

 

[heslipst]

Maroni is a keyhole cichlid... very peaceful and never interacts with apistos. I have 2 pair of apistos and 1 unsexable pair of keyholes.

3 pair may be too many for 30 gallons?

I put a mirror behind the tank and found my wicked female cacatuoides going into a hole in my driftwood and bringing gravel out in her mouth. I am suspecting that there may be eggs in there. That may have a lot to the aggressiveness.

I guess I'll see soon enough.
Thx for the response.

All the best,
Steve

 

[farm41]

I have 2 pair of apisto's in my 38g and that's a plenty for me, but if your setup works for you then great.

If you are having agression problems, whether it's 2 pair, 3 pair or 4 pair, one of them has to go. :?

JMO
YMMV

 

[heslipst]

thx

thank you for the advice

 

[Neil]

heslipst,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

I put a mirror behind the tank and found my wicked female cacatuoides going into a hole in my driftwood and bringing gravel out in her mouth. I am suspecting that there may be eggs in there. That may have a lot to the aggressiveness.

Before I even got down to this part of the thread, I was thinking, "Sound like these fish are going to breed"! Although any individual cichlid can become very aggressive, even though they are of a species that is not particularly noted for this, most will change the way that they relate to their tank-mates when they are about to spawn.

Did I choose the wrong fish, in the cacatuoides, for my tank?

On the contrary, OF cacatuoides is an absolutely great fish. You just have yourself problem with changing circumstances. We all go through it and it is a problem that many here would like to be having. If they are breeding, divide the tank or get the keyholes out for awhile, if it looks like they too will be badly injured by the cacatuoides. If the aggression to them is not continuous or extreme, you may be able to leave things as they are.
Good luck with your "Half heaven, half heartache" problem!
Neil[/quote]