I think I pulled the wrong male.

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Another thing I noted is their growth.. They seem to be barely growing since I got them from the lfs.. I feed them NLS pellets twice/thrice a day but haven't noticed any substantial growth..
What do you feed your GTs?
 
Thanks for the input.. The reason I asked is cause I'm contemplating adding another GT or more to my current stock (two GTs which I presume are a pair)
The current duo are getting along great, just the occasional chasing one another but nothing major.. I saw on other threads that it's advisable to have as many GTs as possible but I'm unsure if I wanna take that risk of changing the dynamics in my tank now..
Since you have experience keeping them for some time, what would be the ideal move here? Others who have opinions can chime in too, thanks..

Forgive me if you’ve already posted this somewhere, how big is the tank? I think that’s a big deciding factor.
Either my tank isn’t big enough(6’ x 18”) for a 1m 2f setup, or as they say trios with cichlids is never good.
So far I have a 2m tank and a 2f tank. The males are doing great with no aggression. My big female is making life a nightmare for my smaller female. I even added a couple more small females and my big female just keeps everyone hiding 24/7. It’s horrible.
It hasn’t been that long, but so far the males are the only ones working out.

Another thing I noted is their growth.. They seem to be barely growing since I got them from the lfs.. I feed them NLS pellets twice/thrice a day but haven't noticed any substantial growth..
What do you feed your GTs?

How long have you had them and how much have they grown?
Tank temp and water change schedule?

This is what I feed them
30236D4E-8E62-4857-AA00-A6B2B05EEC50.jpeg
I order it off amazon.
 
@ whoever, lol... I've never had issues with GT growth, over a span of many years that meant different foods, all depending what I was feeding at the time. Last time I kept them I found freeze dried mysis to be a good add to pellets for growth.

The males are doing great with no aggression. My big female is making life a nightmare for my smaller female. I even added a couple more small females and my big female just keeps everyone hiding 24/7. It’s horrible.
It hasn’t been that long, but so far the males are the only ones working out.
Crazy how different they can be. I never had female GTs harass a male.
 
Guess I should update this guy while I’m here.
This one is from 9/26
FCC9E32F-7A40-4E90-94A2-BF1E18DE0756.jpeg
His seam is really thin, I hope it thickens up with time.
His was from 9/19
I haven’t measured him, but he’s put on some size.
E2110D89-89DD-4075-B775-F02DAFB68402.jpeg
 
@ whoever, lol... I've never had issues with GT growth, over a span of many years that meant different foods, all depending what I was feeding at the time. Last time I kept them I found freeze dried mysis to be a good add to pellets for growth.

Crazy how different they can be. I never had female GTs harass a male.

Yeah I don’t get it. All my females are horrible. They just beat males silly. And yet my males are so gentle.
 
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Yeah I don’t get it. All my females are horrible. They just beat males silly. And yet my males are so gentle.
Had a female frontosa once, on the small side, forget exactly, something like 5-6 inches. Would not tolerate any male frontosa, no matter how big-- would not tolerate any other frontosa of any size-- no matter the species she rarely would tolerate a fish over 4 inches-- basically only tolerated small fish, including snack sized 1" fry, which she wouldn't bother at all, unless they were frontosa.

Having said all that, I'd suggest it might possibly be relevant to a single, odd GT female, but all of them? Guess not. :ROFL:
 
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Forgive me if you’ve already posted this somewhere, how big is the tank? I think that’s a big deciding factor.
Either my tank isn’t big enough(6’ x 18”) for a 1m 2f setup, or as they say trios with cichlids is never good.
So far I have a 2m tank and a 2f tank. The males are doing great with no aggression. My big female is making life a nightmare for my smaller female. I even added a couple more small females and my big female just keeps everyone hiding 24/7. It’s horrible.
It hasn’t been that long, but so far the males are the only ones working out.



How long have you had them and how much have they grown?
Tank temp and water change schedule?
It's a 120g tank with just the two GTs.. had them for a month now when they were 2.5~3".. couldn't really tell how much they have grown.. probably just slightly bigger by eyeballing them.. about 3.5" or less..

Water temp is around 28°C and weekly water change (30%)
 
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Had a female frontosa once, on the small side, forget exactly, something like 5-6 inches. Would not tolerate any male frontosa, no matter how big-- would not tolerate any other frontosa of any size-- no matter the species she rarely would tolerate a fish over 4 inches-- basically only tolerated small fish, including snack sized 1" fry, which she wouldn't bother at all, unless they were frontosa.

Having said all that, I'd suggest it might possibly be relevant to a single, odd GT female, but all of them? Guess not. :ROFL:

Haha. Some females are just crazy. Maybe it’s just my big female that’s the problem and the rest have learned from her? I’m not sure. But I think I’m just better off keeping them separate unless I want them to spawn.

It's a 120g tank with just the two GTs.. had them for a month now when they were 2.5~3".. couldn't really tell how much they have grown.. probably just slightly bigger by eyeballing them.. about 3.5" or less..

Water temp is around 28°C and weekly water change (30%)

That sounds about average. It’s not often they put on a lot of size in a month. Males have been the only ones to grow faster for me. Females are slower. A lot more so when spawning.

Your temp is on the high end. I had more aggression from mine at that temp. I aim for no higher then 80F in the summer now. But mostly around 75-78F Of course the higher temp increases their metabolism = they eat more = grow more.
And any time you want to get the max potential from a fish change the water as much and as often as you can. 75%+ once to twice a week would be minimum.
 
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That sounds about average. It’s not often they put on a lot of size in a month. Males have been the only ones to grow faster for me. Females are slower. A lot more so when spawning.

Your temp is on the high end. I had more aggression from mine at that temp. I aim for no higher then 80F in the summer now. But mostly around 75-78F Of course the higher temp increases their metabolism = they eat more = grow more.
And any time you want to get the max potential from a fish change the water as much and as often as you can. 75%+ once to twice a week would be minimum.
As far as growth goes, they seem similarly even.. funny that you mentioned spawning, the GT that I presume is a male started swirling around the other GT, its finnage spread open, nudging and rubbing his body against her and also lip-locking.. Is this mating behavior? This went on and off for the whole day.. The female seemed to be having none of it though..
This morning they were back to their normal selves..
They are both so young(~3.5"), is it even possible to mate?
And do GTs of the same gender show this kind of behavior? Just trying to find out if mine are indeed the opposite sex..
 
As far as growth goes, they seem similarly even.. funny that you mentioned spawning, the GT that I presume is a male started swirling around the other GT, its finnage spread open, nudging and rubbing his body against her and also lip-locking.. Is this mating behavior? This went on and off for the whole day.. The female seemed to be having none of it though..
This morning they were back to their normal selves..
They are both so young(~3.5"), is it even possible to mate?
And do GTs of the same gender show this kind of behavior? Just trying to find out if mine are indeed the opposite sex..

Yes that is courting behavior. But I’ve had my females do it when fighting over spawning territory too.
Flaring
C117809B-6ACD-41DB-A2AA-7C542AA113C9.jpeg
Lip locking
79AF28E8-3351-4BED-B77D-2628C430DA54.jpeg
I’ve had a 2” male and female spawn.
Little female with her eggs
F77AC3F3-EB1A-4397-8A5B-44E055D348EF.jpeg
 
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