135g SA "Renewal" Project

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So I just witnessed something I never would have thought possible.

I just saw my Farowella catfish giving crap to one of my GT's. kind of chasing it and trying to catch a ride on its flanks...

I've heard that Chinese Algae Eaters can be notorious slime coat Eaters - but Farowella "Twig" catfish???

Could it be the culprit?

I've got some googling to do. Everything I've read about these guys says "no", but I know what i just saw...
 
Yesterday I came home and both SAE's were dead.

I thought there was no way the Farowella could be solely responsible.

So this morning I woke up early and watched the tank with the lights out. Not something I usually do.

What I saw probably won't shock some of you - in fact Stanzzz experienced something similar in his Rivulatus tank...

The GT's were hunting a Bleeding Heart Tetra... three of the GT's would take turns taking runs at the fish and stripping off scales or fins.

I'm positive when I get home I will find one less BH in the tank.

As sad as I am to lose my Tetra (and realize I won't be able to keep schooling fish in this tank moving forward), it was fascinating behaviour to witness... I guess because the Tetras were much too large to swallow whole, the GT's were going after it a bite at a time (kind of like those scale eating characins). What was also interesting was the fact that 3 of the GT's (the big male and 2 females) were clearly working together; like a wolf pack.

When I get home tonight I will be setting up my 15g QT tank and moving out any of the remaining Tetras.

I was planning to pick up more bleeding hearts this weekend to build a nice shoal of them. Not anymore.

I think what I will do now is add more Sterbai Cory cats, as the GT's seem to ignore them.
 
jvc66 said:
wow very interesting and sad at the same time. Its a shame they werent able to live together peacefully. You have me wondering about my planned setup except dithers would be my existing bala sharks. Three are 4" and the fourth is 7" but the plan was to get a few more large ones. I wonder if they will get picked off
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It's hard to say. I have to say I was kind of expecting to have to remove the Tetras eventually. Another member here had that same problem and I was aware of it going in.

Losing the SAE's caught me off guard. I have kept these exact 3 SAE's with JD's, breeding Convicts, and numerous other cichlids for 10 years with no issues.

Maybe that was the problem? I don't know how old SAE's usually live but I got these guys on 2006 and started growing them out with Keyholes & Bolivian Rams. When they got a certain size they went in with Severums, then A few different Central Americans (including the ones mentioned), then earth Eaters, a Chocolate cichlid, and then the GT's.

Never had issues. Usually the SAE's were some of the more active and aggressive fish (with each other) in my tank.

But they were old.

I'm not suggesting the GT's are worse than anything else or anything like that. I just think the SAE's were too old, too worn out. Too slow.

Age catches everyone and everything.

So I can't really say if the Bala's will work. I've never kept Bala's, but I heard they get large, are a very robust and active fish - so I think they'd probably be okay, right up until they aren't!
 
i've noticed that GT's tend to be unpredictable. There are plenty that are tolerable of tankmates but there are definetely just as many if not more that live up to their name.
 
DarylMac said:
It's hard to say. I have to say I was kind of expecting to have to remove the Tetras eventually. Another member here had that same problem and I was aware of it going in.

Losing the SAE's caught me off guard. I have kept these exact 3 SAE's with JD's, breeding Convicts, and numerous other cichlids for 10 years with no issues.

Maybe that was the problem? I don't know how old SAE's usually live but I got these guys on 2006 and started growing them out with Keyholes & Bolivian Rams. When they got a certain size they went in with Severums, then A few different Central Americans (including the ones mentioned), then earth Eaters, a Chocolate cichlid, and then the GT's.

Never had issues. Usually the SAE's were some of the more active and aggressive fish (with each other) in my tank.

But they were old.

I'm not suggesting the GT's are worse than anything else or anything like that. I just think the SAE's were too old, too worn out. Too slow.

Age catches everyone and everything.

So I can't really say if the Bala's will work. I've never kept Bala's, but I heard they get large, are a very robust and active fish - so I think they'd probably be okay, right up until they aren't!
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Yea that it very strange that they went after the SAE espacially with it living with previous cichlids with no problem. And i cant remember but were your GTs Captive bred or wild caught? I have heard that wild caught will wreak havoc no matter what and captive bred are usually much more docile. I could be completly wrong and would love to hear from others on that but i remember reading it somewhere. Will have to find it for you.

And i love my balas, they just add a little excitement to the tank with how they move around plus they are my girlfriends favorite fish so i need to be careful. I might keep the three smaller guys out in a grow out and pick up a few larger ones to go with my big guy. The whole plan was to grow out my balas and then stanzzz showed me his tank and ruined the whole idea for me lol
 
I actually don't know if my GT's are captive bred or Wild Caught. The LFS where I got them isn't actually that local to me so I have not been back to ask.

I have heard the same thing that WC fish can be more aggressive.

My wife was giving me heck last night "we had a perfectly peaceful tank for years and you ruined it!" I told her she could have some input on the tanks once she starts doing some of the water changes...

She did bring up a good point when I told her I was not going to replace the Tetras or SAE's, but instead add more Cory cats. She said "how do you know they won't start harassing the cories once all the other fish are gone?"

That's a good point.

I may just watch and see if any aggression towards the cories or plecos starts to develop, but right now I think it would be unlikely.
 
DarylMac said:
I actually don't know if my GT's are captive bred or Wild Caught. The LFS where I got them isn't actually that local to me so I have not been back to ask.

I have heard the same thing that WC fish can be more aggressive.

My wife was giving me heck last night "we had a perfectly peaceful tank for years and you ruined it!" I told her she could have some input on the tanks once she starts doing some of the water changes...

She did bring up a good point when I told her I was not going to replace the Tetras or SAE's, but instead add more Cory cats. She said "how do you know they won't start harassing the cories once all the other fish are gone?"

That's a good point.

I may just watch and see if any aggression towards the cories or plecos starts to develop, but right now I think it would be unlikely.
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I bet that water change comment didnt go over well lol. But its hard since my preference is to have something else in that top level with the GTs and im hoping its my balas. And for some reason a lot of people say that the GTs stay away from cory cats which is surpising since you would think thats a nice easy snack. Which corys were you planning on adding?
 
Cory cats wont last long in there. IME the best dithers for larger cichlids like these are silver dollars. they are big enough to take some aggression, fast, schooling, and BIG eaters. I would recommend at least three. I have a group of six with my festae and they are great.
 
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