Yes! Green terror tank is bigger than I thought!
- Thread starter Bigcatfishrule
- Start date
Similar to african fish and they just push the fish around no real tear them up attitudes . Higher population densitys devuse aggression. How come it's just fin for rift lake inthusist to cram there tanks but oh 3 pairs in a 125 is to much if dealing with centrals
Because even though rift lake cichlids and CA cichlids are both cichlids the are completely different fish with different ways of communicating, living, feeding, dealing with territory. Watch some wild videos of the rift lakes on you tube and watch how they live and then google wild videos of different types of new world cichlids and you see a huge difference in how they live.
Rift lake
[video=youtube_share;D68FllMl95Y]http://youtu.be/D68FllMl95Y[/video]
See there you are dealing with a spawning pair at least that is what it appears to be. I have read of accounts of ca cichlids forming huge multi species schools. When they are not spawning. Now of course your large piscavore cichlids do not do this they are probable there but to feed on the more smaller cichlids. I like to use sunfish and crappies as exsaples u go fishing for them and you catch greens blue gills white and black crappie all in the same hole by the hundreds. Now they say cichlidia is not present in north amarica because of the Sunnis and bass that are here as they fill the same ecological notches.
The video I posted was just an example feel free to surf through youtube and see for yourself.
Please sight the source you got this from "I have read of accounts of ca cichlids forming huge multi species schools." I have never heard of that happening with CA cichlids in the wild and that is not the nature of new world cichlid. Sunnies and bass are in the same location but they definitely do not school together. Sunfish work in teams to feed off bass babies. I grew up on a lake every summer and you can look at the bottom and put a fishing hook in front of the fish you want. Sunfish have there own nests and will chase anything away from it, like wise with bass. they are in same area but don't live in peaceful groups.
Rift lake cichlids were made to live in groups and have a pecking order and a dominance system. Most new world cichlids spend the efforts on establishing territories sort of like the sunfish you mention.
I will just end with my personal experience. I once had the same thought as you I have overstocked and under stocked new world cichlids. Overstocking never ever worked I just lost fish to aggression under stocking everyone is healthy and happy.
You know do not recall the exact source at the moment but it was dealing speacificly to lake Nicaragua. I also just read a article called colliding worlds. It's about the Fona of Costa Rica and panama and it also talks of cichlids spawning within inches of each other in a river there call coloradeto River cool read should check it out. I truly believe that this is why a lot of pepole lose fish is keeping them unnaturally as pairs and by the way there is nothing natural for a fish in captivity. It's not like dogs where they domesticated them selfs much like us the only species to inslave it's self to a unnatural setting.
Rivers2k I found some video of cichlids in the wild that clearly show large groups cichlids the video is called natural under water video of cichlid. When the video gets to coasta rica u will see what I mean
Very interesting reading all this. It makes sense that certain new world cichlids might school, to escape the thousands of predators they have in south america (safety in numbers), especially when the water levels are high, meaning there is plenty of food to sustain a large school of cichlids. Just my 2 cents.
now I am not saying slap 20 dovii in a tank. you got to think about the stock. 1 or 2 big 12 or better fish and the a few that get to 8-10 and keep the rest under 6 to 6 iches. chose speices that naturaly would feed on ifred
