Hello everyone. As a first time south american cichlid owner I was wondering what caused my green terror to snap and what I can do about it. So here's the story. I have a nice 55 gallon setup with 6 fish in it, all between 3-5 inches. The green terror and a starry night cichlid were the first inhabitants of the tank and the GT would pick on the other guy but not too bad, nothing life threatening, just to establish territory. I introduced other non cichlid fish including a clown loach and a small catfish and everything was going fine. Then came the tiger oscar who the GT became best buds with almost instantly, no signs of aggression at all and they would swim around together and share the same territory, no problem. About a week after the oscar went in I purchased some new decorations and caves to add new territories but in general keeping the same setup and I introduced a tinfoil barb; still no problems. Then the next day my GT and my tiger oscar start locking lips and slapping each other with their tail. I guess the GT won and now he is terrorizing everyone in the tank, especially the oscar. Will the GT kill my oscar if she is not removed? Should I separate the GT and the oscar until the oscar gets bigger? (Pretty sure the GT is a female as it has generally rounded fins)
sociopath green terror
- Thread starter lukas718
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Territorial fish will be relentless and your Oscar is in fact in danger of being seriously hurt or killed, not to mention endlessly harassed. I would suggest, at the very least, remove all fish and decor...completely re-arrange and then put all the fish back at once. This may calm things down at first, but fish are fish and their instinctual need to territory will once again start causing problems.
If things between the two fish don't settle down, rehoming one or the other may be necessary.
If things between the two fish don't settle down, rehoming one or the other may be necessary.
Quick story....
I had an Oscar I got when it was about 2".
It shared a tank with a single sailfin pleco.
About a year into these two I noticed the pleco pretty much ran the show. It didn't bother me much and the fish both grew together until they were both about 6".
This all started in a 55. Then came the 210g. Some additional fish led to more fish and then more still until I had quite the community tank and all was well. As the years went by and the two original fish grew to around 12" the sailfin still ran the tank...then one day it all changed. The Oscar suddenly wanted everyone out and the sailfin was suddenly banished the the far back corner and was seldom seen.
What happened? Who knows. Maybe the Oscar finally "snapped"...maybe it reached a certain age and as a mature Oscar it started acting as such...whatever the reason, it became a constant battle keeping the Oscar from devastating the rest of my fish as well as the tank....and one would think in a moderately stocked 210 there would plenty of room for everyone....especially since all the peaceful coexistence before....
The point is, all we can do is try and match up our fish the best we can. I see my goldfish act aggressive sometimes...yeah, goldfish...
So who knows what causes the behavior sometimes encountered unexpectedly. ..
but usually the behavior we observe only can be dealt with in limited ways.
I eventually re-homed the Oscar to it's own 180 and the community once terrorized suddenly were happy and peaceful again.
I had an Oscar I got when it was about 2".
It shared a tank with a single sailfin pleco.
About a year into these two I noticed the pleco pretty much ran the show. It didn't bother me much and the fish both grew together until they were both about 6".
This all started in a 55. Then came the 210g. Some additional fish led to more fish and then more still until I had quite the community tank and all was well. As the years went by and the two original fish grew to around 12" the sailfin still ran the tank...then one day it all changed. The Oscar suddenly wanted everyone out and the sailfin was suddenly banished the the far back corner and was seldom seen.
What happened? Who knows. Maybe the Oscar finally "snapped"...maybe it reached a certain age and as a mature Oscar it started acting as such...whatever the reason, it became a constant battle keeping the Oscar from devastating the rest of my fish as well as the tank....and one would think in a moderately stocked 210 there would plenty of room for everyone....especially since all the peaceful coexistence before....
The point is, all we can do is try and match up our fish the best we can. I see my goldfish act aggressive sometimes...yeah, goldfish...
So who knows what causes the behavior sometimes encountered unexpectedly. ..
but usually the behavior we observe only can be dealt with in limited ways.
I eventually re-homed the Oscar to it's own 180 and the community once terrorized suddenly were happy and peaceful again.
Thanks for the advice. I am probably going to remove the green terror and buy a more peaceful fish. The oscar is really beautiful and I would hate to see him get ripped apart by the green terror. Any suggestions for tankmates? I heard firemouths and Oscars could work is that true?
The problem with Oscars is they need space...even when young. My Oscars have all been very different dispositions...each to his/her own personality. They are also territorial, but more than that, they like their own space. Another Oscar...perhaps...opposite sex? You will need a bigger tank soon with the Oscar.
Oscars can be big teddy bears for life....or turn into big grizzly bears overnight. Really think about long term. Honestly, if peaceful community is the goal, unfortunately, I say rehome the Oscar. It is purely my opinion and others on here may have differing opinions. I will even go as far as rehoming the GT too...
You have only one Clown Loach...they need a school of at least 5-6 to be happy....and you will notice them interact in a very amusing way.
Cichlids are tough to pair up sometimes and I have had soooo many different cichlids in sooo many combos.
It may take many trial and errors, but it is worth it when all works together.
http://www.calgaryaquariumsociety.com/Articles/The_Peaceful_Amazonian_Cichlid_Community_Tank.html
Just a little article I thought might be helpful. I personally love all the Geophagus species and they make a beautiful peaceful display tank.
Just a thought.
Just a little article I thought might be helpful. I personally love all the Geophagus species and they make a beautiful peaceful display tank.
Just a thought.
Thank you again, and I am upgrading fairly soon, looking at a 100 gallon currently. I have been wanting to do an Oscar tank for a long time so I think I will move the GT to a spare 30 gallon tank that I have and he can have that all to himself for now. And thank you for the welcome, Im very excited to expand my knowledge in keeping an aquarium and this site is the best one I have come across so far!
Cichlids will definitely do that lol, think of a kid, turning into an adolescent; then growing into a grumpy grown up, I'd say its very rare to get placid individuals in fish such as Green Terrors, hence the name lol. Mine started killing fish from a very small size, wouldn't tolerate anything in a 92 gallon, even the small inconspicuous pleco
