pelv. sacrimontis

[andypython]

I have obtained a group of wild caught p. sacrimontis (5 males 3 females) I am having a difficult time with them. I have two mature males and one mature female the rest are juvenille. I am keeping the three adult in portions of a divided 90gl, two of which share the same water. the water is at about 6.3ph and is very soft. I am filtering over peat and have soft water to begin with. the temp is 82C. I cannot seem to get any of them to co habit any one section of the tank. maybe I am being to cautious, but the agression seems to be unceaseing. the largest male chases the female to no end, but she will chase the smaller male in the same way if they are combined. I have seen her try her dance on the largest male but he quickly turns to chasing and she quickly loses her brilliant colouration. when in seperate sections the female will hang out as near as she can to the male next to her, but that is as friendly ads they get...
they have been eating well ( a variety of frozen foods) and except for damaged tails seem to be in good health. I have never had wild caught fish before and I have no idea if this is normal or if I am missing something, but I am very affraid to keep them together, I dont get the oppertunity to get fish such as these very often around here so I would be somewhat upset to lose them..

any tips, hints or suggestions on assisting them to pair up would be appreciated.
sorry about the lenght of this post.

Andy

 

[tjudy]

Try totally separating the male from the group. He may be just too rough. Let one of the smaller, less dominant males become the female's mate of choice.

I had that species for a long time. Once the pair settled in they were excellent as a pair. Great parents and never agressive towards each other.

 

[dhm325]

I had the same experience. It takes a while for them to pair off. However, once they do, they make excellent parents. You don't mention whether there are any dither and/or target fish in the tank. I used a 29 gallon tank with a tank divider in the middle and had one pair on each side of the divider. As long as there are sufficient places for the smaller fish to hide the dominant fish will spend much of its time trying to attack the other dominant fish on the other side of the divider. The dithers/targets tend to diffuse the aggression. I had both pairs spawn within one week of each other using this set-up.

You mention that your water temp is about 82 degrees. I assume that you mean F not C. In any case, that seems too high for these fish. I kept mine at 76F and raized the temp to 77F when I was breeding them.

Good luck with the fish. They are one of my favorites.

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis sacimontis

Hello Andy,

What other fish, if any, do you have in tank, please?

Thanks!

Randall Kohn

 

[andypython]

the tank is a 90 short, so 4'lx2'wx18"t. it is divided in half compeltly and each half is again divided but not all the way so that each of the two halves have the same water. if that makes sense. It was a tank I got from a store that closed.

any way, in the tank from right to left are a pair of Nannochromis transvestitus, then a single n. transvestitus, then divided inhalf a male and female p.sacrimontis, then another male. in the section with the male and female sacrimontis are three glowlite tetras.

I have tried the sacrimontis in differing combinations, but none with success yet. the female only shows interest in the smaller male(through the glass or through the tank divider, but beats up on him if placed together. The larger male has coloured up now that he can see both the other male and the female, but I have yet to try him again with the female as he still is trying to bite her through the glass.
I havent seen any pre spawning behavior, as described in Linke and Staeck, just aggression, attempted and real biting causing fin damage on the small male.

I hope some of this infromation will give some idea of what I am doing wrong or what else I could try.
I could try to set up a larger 27gl tank or even a fifty, if some one thinks they might just need space to sort this out.

 

[Randall]

Aggressive Pelvicachromis sacrimontis

Hello Andy,

Thanks for filling us in!

With all the divisions in your 90-gallon tank, it doesn't sound like any single compartment is very large, although the overall tank certainly is. The first thing I'd do is add about a dozen more tetras as dither fish and see if that makes a difference. If so, great; if not, you might try setting up a 30-gallon tank for the most harmonious pair with a group of dither fish.

In the wild, Pelvicachromis species are closely associated with stands of aquatic plants, so a well-planted/decorated aquarium should be helpful. Also, P. sacrimontis is commonly bred in very soft and acidic water (pH below 6.0).

I think both Ted and dhm make excellent suggestions. If one pair doesn't work out, you can try substituting the aggressive male with another one. Also, I agree that 82 degrees F is too hot. 76-77 degrees F is more appropriate.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn