How aggressive are salvini's

Cichlidshady

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Aug 22, 2014
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I just got a deal from petsmart selling 1/2 inch salvini's for 2.29 each and picked up two of them they are in a 90 gallon with a divider between them and the big guys. However the dominant one is small enough to slip through the side of the divider and is quick to avoid the big guys and eventually goes back to his side of the tank into his cave. The only concern is the less dominant salvini is being harrassed by the dominant one whenever he is in his line of sight. I have never owned one of these buggers and assumed they wouldnt be any more aggressive than firemouths, but i have done some reasearch and Ive concluded they are pretty nasty! so how aggressive are these guys actually???? any answers will be appreciated also how fast do they grow and what size could they be ok with my 4 inch jaguar
 

Allan01230

Polypterus
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Jun 29, 2006
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They are as agressive if not more than the jaguar, about keeping them together who knows? They are cichlids so anything can happen. They max out at 8 inches with jags possibly doubling that size. Your jag has quite a head start so possibly never all depends on your jags personality
 

Montelboom

Plecostomus
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May 20, 2014
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I had a male before that maxed out at 6 3/4 inches and was kinda a wimp.

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Crazy mike

Fire Eel
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Sep 22, 2012
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They grow pretty average in my experience, I've never seen a salvini close to 8 inches. A 6 inch male should be ok with a jag until the jag hits 13 or so inches then it can eat it. They are highly nasty little things tho although my female is submissive towards almost everything with her she did fight or try and fight everything at some point.


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Cichlidshady

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Aug 22, 2014
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thank you guys! I just found out i have two males! Yikes! my jag is a female and she is a big wimp as of right now but i dont know about the future. but for right now they are pretty amusing! The bullying got so bad last night i had to put in a few extra plants for the sub dominaant to hide in. They will be monsters in the future! only problem is they can fit into the jag's mouth but they know pretty well by now the big scary fish are over the divider :)
 

duanes

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I have found, pound for pound salvini are much more aggressive than most other centrals, and even when much smaller, can kill a managuense.
Think about what the brightest colors usually mean in nature, from poison dart frogs to coral snakes (stay away, or face the consequences).
 

xraycer

Arapaima
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Think about what the brightest colors usually mean in nature, from poison dart frogs to coral snakes (stay away, or face the consequences).
Must be why I fear/hate freaking clowns :D
 
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