Aggression Question

[Hackney]

I am new to big aggressive Cichlids and have always dealt with Africans and more peaceful SA/CA cichlids such as sev's and blood parrots. I recently received some free fish an 8" Vieja synspilum and a 8" black belt. They are in a 125 and had some ugly battles for the first hour or so, but have calmed down since then, as the black belt seems to be dominant. They bother nothing else in the tank. They just went at eachother. My question is, can i expect the fights to stop now that one has won dominance over the other? The synspilum seems to just get out of its way when the black belt comes by now.

I'd appreciate any help

Thanks

 

[parachromisownr]

yeah it could go either way really, things could be fine, could turn nasty too. the important thing is to have separate territories for them to defend, so they don't fight over the same bit of turf. the real problem with aggressive fish is that the dominant ones generally get challenged, and the more pig headed the combatants, the nastier the results. If it gets too much to bear, try putting a physical barrier in the tank (eggcrate works well) to keep them apart. good luck

 

[Hackney]

Thanks for the reply. The tank is full of driftwood, so there is definitely territory for each of them. i'll just have to see how it goes

 

[Sarah88]

yeah like stated it could go either way, now that they got through their introductions and figured out who is dominant it could settle down or the dominant fish could turn into a killer and relentlessly go after the other, or the other could not give up and continue to challenge the dominant one. you really just have to keep an eye on them and if it seems like they are causing serious physical damage or one is getting stressed to the point where he wont eat or something then it would be time to separate them. but just so you know even in a tank that has an established order and the fish all "get along" they are still cichlids, and like im sure you have seen with your africans, there will still be little scuffles here and there

 

[Hackney]

yeah like stated it could go either way, now that they got through their introductions and figured out who is dominant it could settle down or the dominant fish could turn into a killer and relentlessly go after the other, or the other could not give up and continue to challenge the dominant one. you really just have to keep an eye on them and if it seems like they are causing serious physical damage or one is getting stressed to the point where he wont eat or something then it would be time to separate them. but just so you know even in a tank that has an established order and the fish all "get along" they are still cichlids, and like im sure you have seen with your africans, there will still be little scuffles here and there

Yeah. I agree. I think just because of their size (i said 8" on the safe side, they're probably closer to 9.5") the fight seemed way worse than what im used to seeing haha. i just came home for lunch and looked at them and i dont see any wounds from scuffles and they pretty much stayed on opposite ends of the tank. But as you stated they are cichlids and anything could change, later today, next week, or a year from now.

 

[virgil2090]

you may also have a male and female,which can add to the problems or help the situation.they could breed and make it worse for tankmates,can you id them? dominance is one kind of aggression,breeding will of course be different.