Aggression question

[philipraposo1982]

I have to agree with frank, looks like all girls. They also look fairly stressed out.

I bought a group of 6 and have 2 males and 4 females. It was incredibly easy to sex them all. When you have a tank with many GT's in there the males and females look completely different.

Here a look at my grow out post. These were my top pics from my group of 6, and they have spawned for me a few times. You can easily see the difference in this young pair.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/watch-them-grow-green-terror-breading-pair.677164/

As for aggression its my opinion that your best to keep either a male or female gt solo in a 75g. Right when a got the 6 gt's and they got settled (a couple days) the alpha male showed himself. The dominant female was spotted at the same time. the two would hang out together and they quickly spawned. This is when all hell broke loose.

The female insisted on guarding the eggs on her own and didn't let anyone near them. she hated me even coming near the glass. at the time she is just under 3" and the male almost a 1/2" bigger couldn't do anything to her either.

I quickly got rid of the other 4, sold them dirt cheap. I should mention I too have a 75g with lots of hiding places. You can see my tank in the grow out post i linked.

I should also talk about pre and post spawn behavior. pre-spawn you will see both fish cleaning an area or making a flat area on the tank floor. using their mouths. also notice lip locking and some aggression between the pair. the female gets black or really dark and the male colors pop even more than normal. The they spawn and post spawn they are aggressive with each other again.

In my case the post and pre spawn type of aggression lasted 2 days. After that the male was doing being a bully and he just wanted to be left alone. the female was on full on attack mode and claimed half to 2/3 of the 75g for herself.

Once the fry become big enough to swim around, the momma couldn't protect them and the male went for a buffet lunch. during this time the female bashed up the male good too.

This same cycle happened about 6 weeks later. Same thing. After the second time I had enough of watching them beating on each other and got rid of my female. Deciding to keep my male as a wetpet solo.

This has been my experience and it may not be yours, but during this time i did a ton of reading and more times than not this or similar behavior has been the case.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask me any questions if you got them. I am no pro by any means but I do have direct experience.

 

[terrorG]

wow rebel you are so lucky to have all female i just picked up a bunchthe other day on sunday silver saums wild caught and my terrors gave birth to eggs at lunch time. the new 5 are in a 60liter but are 1/2 inch to inch i put them in a small 60liter 2ft x 1ft x 1ft they are crazy swimming around and hiding to when some one goes near the tank. But give them time to settle is what im doing. Your fish do look female but they also look male so hard to tell with out still pictures. I am going to be getting rid of my males if you were closer you could help yourself to what ever one you want that is male.

i think you can keep many females but a single male

my fish do not fight but do bump each other and attack the filter like neon tetras attack shrimp

 

[philipraposo1982]

If your not planning to go to a much larger tank I would think the idea of a single male with multiple females would be tight.

Even if there was zero aggression (not a chance in hell) one 10" male and 2-3 7" females would be all over each other in a 75g. it wouldn't be an enjoyable life for them being so cramped.

I would keep my single male in a 180g if i had the room for it. I regret buying the rimless 75g and wish I spent the money on a 180 and built a new stand. Maybe one day when I have a bigger place.

 

[Rebelsgirl]

If your not planning to go to a much larger tank I would think the idea of a single male with multiple females would be tight.

Even if there was zero aggression (not a chance in hell) one 10" male and 2-3 7" females would be all over each other in a 75g. it wouldn't be an enjoyable life for them being so cramped.

I would keep my single male in a 180g if i had the room for it. I regret buying the rimless 75g and wish I spent the money on a 180 and built a new stand. Maybe one day when I have a bigger place.

I really just want a single male/female pair. I only purchased so many fish in the hopes of growing them out and keeping two.

I know 75 gal isn't ideal for a pair, but I read that they are slow growers. I am able to upgrade the tank anytime if necessary, but I was hoping it could be put off for about 3 years and the 75 would be sufficient until then.

I'm really hoping the aggression gets remedied when I finally get a pair... It sounds like it didn't for you, but I have heard of it working so I am going to give it a shot I think..

 

[philipraposo1982]

I hope it works out for you, in the chance that it doesn't make sure to have a backup plan. A divider on hand or spare tank or a friend to come take the fish. Green terrors don't form bonded pairs from what I know which means that it will likely end up as I have described.

Out of curiosity do you know someone with a pair that is happy together? any posts or videos showing such behavior?

I mean in my setup for the several months i kept the two there are periods where they get along fine. Only when there is no eggs or fry in the tank, and when neither of them are looking to spawn.

 

[Rebelsgirl]

I hope it works out for you, in the chance that it doesn't make sure to have a backup plan. A divider on hand or spare tank or a friend to come take the fish. Green terrors don't form bonded pairs from what I know which means that it will likely end up as I have described.

Out of curiosity do you know someone with a pair that is happy together? any posts or videos showing such behavior?

I mean in my setup for the several months i kept the two there are periods where they get along fine. Only when there is no eggs or fry in the tank, and when neither of them are looking to spawn.

I'll have a spare 40 gallon as soon as spring comes (it's currently housing frogs). Not large enough long term, but long enough to find another home.

I honestly can't remember where I got the idea that a pair would be okay. I did a lot of reading and browsing different forums and somehow came to the conclusion that it works.

Picking fish is so hard. :/

 

[philipraposo1982]

I know the feeling. What we want and what is best for the fish is not always inline with each other. There is always a chance that it does work out good and if not your will have options which is the important thing.

I will tell you that since I have not went down to only my male (Kai) i have never been more into my tank. He has gotten a much more lively personality now that he doesn't have to cower from a psycho female.

From someone that used to have 50+ fish in this tank (community) I never thought that I could enjoy only keeping a single fish but boy was I wrong.

 

[Rebelsgirl]

I know the feeling. What we want and what is best for the fish is not always inline with each other. There is always a chance that it does work out good and if not your will have options which is the important thing.

This is my first time keeping cichlids and having a sizeable tank. I really wanted 2-3 fish, at least one relatively large specimen, and I wanted them to breed. I thought this was a good compromise to get everything I wanted.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Do this: do a search on youtube, look at all the popular larger SA/CA cichlids. Then narrow it does to only videos of breeding pairs. take a note of how many of them actually coexist without having to be divided.

I have done this and rarely do I find a pair of large cichlids that don't have to be separated. even in tanks that appear big enough.

In the wild fish would spawn and if the female wanted the male gone then he could go swim off and be done with it. or if a male wanted to spawn and the femlae wanted nothing to do with the male she could simply leave. when we trap them in a tank they don't have this opportunity to leave.

Some species of cichlids are far better at being parents together and will form a bonded pair which these is rarely any major aggression.

 

[Rebelsgirl]

Do this: do a search on youtube, look at all the popular larger SA/CA cichlids. Then narrow it does to only videos of breeding pairs. take a note of how many of them actually coexist without having to be divided.

I have done this and rarely do I find a pair of large cichlids that don't have to be separated. even in tanks that appear big enough.

In the wild fish would spawn and if the female wanted the male gone then he could go swim off and be done with it. or if a male wanted to spawn and the femlae wanted nothing to do with the male she could simply leave. when we trap them in a tank they don't have this opportunity to leave.

Some species of cichlids are far better at being parents together and will form a bonded pair which these is rarely any major aggression.

Do you happen to know off the top of your head any of those breeds that form a bonded pair?