Identifying little cichlid

duanes

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Vieja are not as aggressive growers as Oscars pacus pbass .
By my experience they grow in spurts , they'll grow grow grow and then stop and then again start growing .
I fed them heavy while growing from .5-3" .
But now when I feed heavy I see that they get bloated , so I've gone back to normal feedings and let them grow naturally as their growth rate may be
IMO this is not true.
Given the proper water changes, and space they grow quite rapidly,
And at maturity most Vieja can become very innately aggressive to boot.
I have had Vieja pin larger cichlids like dovii and managuense in the upper corners of a tank, shred and kill them.
They can even shred pussycats like oscars easier.
They are not usually aggressive with non-cichlids, but any other cichlid that gets in the way when they hit maturity is in danger.
When their territorial urge hits, at about 2 or 3 years of age, unless the tank large 200 or more gallons nothing is safe.

One other factor, in nature many Vieja species are primarily vegetarian (especially as they age), and often bloat when fed foods too high in protein and when they don't get enough plant based foods to balance the meat (fish) out.
But don't let vegetarianism fool you, vegetarian cichlids from the new and old world are more innately aggressive and territorial than many predators. Beside their incisor like teeth, used to chopped tough leaves, they have the ability to ram other fish with their ample cranial fore head structure.
 
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Al KW Tan

Piranha
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Jan 21, 2019
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IMO this is not true.
Given the proper water changes, and space they grow quite rapidly,
And at maturity most Vieja can become very innately aggressive to boot.
I have had Vieja pin larger cichlids like dovii and managuense in the upper corners of a tank, shred and kill them.
They can even shred pussycats like oscars easier.
They are not usually aggressive with non-cichlids, but any other cichlid that gets in the way when they hit maturity is in danger.
When their territorial urge hits, at about 2 or 3 years of age, unless the tank large 200 or more gallons nothing is safe.

One other factor, in nature many Vieja species are primarily vegetarian (especially as they age), and often bloat when fed foods too high in protein and when they don't get enough plant based foods to balance the meat (fish) out.
But don't let vegetarianism fool you, vegetarian cichlids from the new and old world are more innately aggressive and territorial than many predators. Beside their incisor like teeth, used to chopped tough leaves, they have the ability to ram other fish with their ample cranial fore head structure.
Yup.. Even at this size, their territorial traits begin to manifest
 
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duanes

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Good example is.. He's bossing this guy around
That's not surprising to me.
I had a Maskaheros (formerly Vieja) regani that killed its mate.
I don't keep single individuals of a species (unless I have access to a potential mate, ) so I gave the regani to a friend with a 220 gal tank.
The regani killed his much large Red Devil, and adult H carpintus.
 

Fishtank6575

Plecostomus
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Nov 3, 2017
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IMO this is not true.
Given the proper water changes, and space they grow quite rapidly,
And at maturity most Vieja can become very innately aggressive to boot.
I have had Vieja pin larger cichlids like dovii and managuense in the upper corners of a tank, shred and kill them.
They can even shred pussycats like oscars easier.
They are not usually aggressive with non-cichlids, but any other cichlid that gets in the way when they hit maturity is in danger.
When their territorial urge hits, at about 2 or 3 years of age, unless the tank large 200 or more gallons nothing is safe.

One other factor, in nature many Vieja species are primarily vegetarian (especially as they age), and often bloat when fed foods too high in protein and when they don't get enough plant based foods to balance the meat (fish) out.
But don't let vegetarianism fool you, vegetarian cichlids from the new and old world are more innately aggressive and territorial than many predators. Beside their incisor like teeth, used to chopped tough leaves, they have the ability to ram other fish with their ample cranial fore head structure.
Damn man! Maybe stop worrying about PH and stop letting your fish murder each other??
 

Fishtank6575

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2017
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That's not surprising to me.
I had a Maskaheros (formerly Vieja) regani that killed its mate.
I don't keep single individuals of a species (unless I have access to a potential mate, ) so I gave the regani to a friend with a 220 gal tank.
The regani killed his much large Red Devil, and adult H carpintus.
You sound like you have failed as a fish keeper. Ive read for years now how every fish you have had ended up murdering its tank mates. Over and over you tell the same story. Some how this has earned you a top spot on this forum.
 

Deadeye

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Aug 31, 2020
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You know cichlids kill each other in nature right…
duanes duanes has successfully bred more cichlids and kept more variety than many of us here combined. That is what gave him a top spot.
When growing out a pair, casualties should be expected.
 

Fishtank6575

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2017
118
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You know cichlids kill each other in nature right…
duanes duanes has successfully bred more cichlids and kept more variety than many of us here combined. That is what gave him a top spot.
When growing out a pair, casualties should be expected.
" I have had Vieja pin larger cichlids like dovii and managuense in the upper corners of a tank, shred and kill them. "

Thats ****ed up fish keeping!!
 

Fishtank6575

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 3, 2017
118
100
61
47
IMO this is not true.
Given the proper water changes, and space they grow quite rapidly,
And at maturity most Vieja can become very innately aggressive to boot.
I have had Vieja pin larger cichlids like dovii and managuense in the upper corners of a tank, shred and kill them.
They can even shred pussycats like oscars easier.
They are not usually aggressive with non-cichlids, but any other cichlid that gets in the way when they hit maturity is in danger.
When their territorial urge hits, at about 2 or 3 years of age, unless the tank large 200 or more gallons nothing is safe.

One other factor, in nature many Vieja species are primarily vegetarian (especially as they age), and often bloat when fed foods too high in protein and when they don't get enough plant based foods to balance the meat (fish) out.
But don't let vegetarianism fool you, vegetarian cichlids from the new and old world are more innately aggressive and territorial than many predators. Beside their incisor like teeth, used to chopped tough leaves, they have the ability to ram other fish with their ample cranial fore head structure.
And your opinion is wrong.

Puskar is absolutely correct here " Vieja are not as aggressive growers as Oscars pacus pbass ".
 
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