Advice for my 125 jag tank.

[GTcichlid74]

As some of you may know from my last post I have 5 juvenile managuense, 1 of them is 3” the rest are 1-1.5” .
The 4 smaller ones were purchased online and are from the same spawn and the 3” one is from petland. I am raising all 5 out to select one male to eventually have the whole tank to himself with a mate possibly. In the process of them growing I don’t really want them beating the crap out of each other(which they are already doing) so should I make dividers to keep them separated to avoid injury? 2 of the 4 small ones look like they are paired because they are inseparable so I would keep them together and anyone other ones who pair. Also the reason I’m going to be picky choosy about which one I keep is because I want to keep this jag for life. What do you guys think?

View attachment 2F09C26A-AE70-4509-A19B-9827EA9B1748.png

 

[Ogertron3000]

Never had jags so not sure if it applies but I'd imagine more cover like rocks and wood would give them areas to make into territories and get away when they are being hassled.

 

[GTcichlid74]

Yes but once they are like 5” it’s gonna be like murderers row in there. Idk man

 

[Ogertron3000]

Maybe the boss male will take over before they get too big. If that happens you will be able to tell who he is easily and can get rid of the rest, maybe keep a small chilled one and hope it's a girl. If not I guess you will have lots of battles going on and the strongest will survive. Not sure if the dividers will be good if you are trying to grow them quickly as it cuts down their space and also kills the look of the tank.
I'd love to grow a jag one day, they seem pretty popular these days, another one for the wish list.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I would keep the two that have paired off.
A 125 is too small to divide for this many of this species.
I would also keep a close eye on the pair.
In a 125 the male may give the female a hard time if he wants to spawn and she's not ready.
I would grow the pair on for as long as you can in your current tank but be prepared to upgrade in the future.

 

[Andy woods cichlids uk]

If you don't want them beating the crap out of one another your going to need hiding places. Your tank how it is set now is a battle arena and will end up with casualty's. Add loads and loads of rock wood etc and when you think there's enough add some more. You can never have to much.
You will end up with a breeding pair in no time at all. At this point you can remove the other three fish, but I wouldn't be in any rush to remove the amount of hiding places until the pair has had a couple of successful spawnings. The pair bond can brake down at any time especially with young adults.
Once the pair bond has strengthened it is time to remove some of the hiding places, but always leave a couple as the female will need somewhere to go when the male plays to rough.
Good luck whether you choose to keep a pair or the dominant male.

 

[GTcichlid74]

* Update

Made a little territory, I don’t have much right now to put in there.


Petland jag approximately 3”
Not too aggressive hoping it turns out to be a female



One of the baby’s from my online order that came yesterday, they are very small and the bigger jag hasn’t shown much aggression toward them thankfully



These two have stayed very close to one another