Pelvicachromis Taeniatus (Moliwe) Tetra Eater?

[77railer]

Just a quick one. Got a nice breeding pair of these recently and put 5 rummy nose tetras in the 20G tank with them. I noticed the next day that two fish were missing. I found one dead under the sponge filter but the body of the second fish is absolutey not in the tank. Came home the next afternoon and another rummy was missing. Again the body is no where in the tank or behind/around it. Has anyone else had any any similiar situations so to speak?


77Railer

 

[ed seeley]

Fish of all kinds will eat dead fish. You will even find the other tetras will have tucked in too. How long is a 20g tank? I have had smaller Pelvicachromis kill a few tetras in 2ft long tanks so you're better with dithers that keep right up at the top like some killifish or hatchets IMHO.

 

[77railer]

Thanks for the reply

 

[Mud Pie Mama]

Great find on the P. taeniatus "Moliwe", I have a growing group of these. Very colorful, and great fun to watch. I think they are quite smart too!

When my original pair were new, and after their first spawn, I had a few female Endlers have their tail fins completely torn off. The damage was so severe I euthanized both fish. Then removed all other fish from this tank. If your pair has indeed spawned already its possible they may have attacked the rummy nose tetras.

The next time they spawned, the first batch of fry were still in the tank. They were not as aggressive, and while constantly chasing the other babies away, I did not find any chewed up. A lot of the second spawn was lost to predation, which given the number of the first spawn - 50+, I was not too sad about!

I've since added back some other dither fish to this tank and things have been okay - both for the Moliwe and the dithers.

Two issue I wonder w/ the rummy nose tetras. First, they do tend to stay in the lower regions of the aquarium, down where the P. taeniatus definitely reside. So they are much more in their home than tetras that are in the upper water column.

Secondly, I've found the rummy nose to be a much more delicate species of tetra. Once established in a tank they will do quite well. However, they do not do well if put in a new tank that is not completely established. Also I've had the best success being sure that the LFS has similar KH parameters as my tank. And that the ones I'm purchasing have been in the shop for at least two weeks.

 

[77railer]

The tank not being mature might be the issue as my neon tetras all died this week. I used sponges that ran in an established tank for a week, put them in new tanks that I filled with water and had running two days before the fish arrived. The Pelvics, Apistos, and Rams are all doing fine but the neon tetras all died and the Rummies are going missing. Didnt think that they might be sensitive like this.

Dont know if the Pelvic spawned yet or not. The female is really blue/purple on her belly but I have only seen her (dance) once for the male.
The Apisto male is chasing the female every now and then and curving his body, she is a nice yellow color but dont know that anything has happened yet.
Wish me luck....77Railer