Hey guys, noticed lately my Severum(4.5in) and Chocolate(5.5in) have had some torn fins and marks on there body. Today I noticed the same thing on my Oscar(6.5in). I sat and watched for awhile, my Festivum(3.5in) sat in the middle of the tank on top and was dive bombing and nipping everyone including the Oscar. He gets dark bars and shakes a little usually before doing this. The tank is very peaceful and out of nowhere the Festivum is an aggressive A Hole. I really don’t want to upset a perfect happy tank. I like him, but not that much ...to be causing a lot of problems to fish I like better. There is a size difference, Festivums definitely a lot smaller. Now my Oscar, Chocolate and Severum are torn up. What do you guys think? I’m thinking he needs to go.
Another I got that Festivum issue
- Thread starter Stevenm1
- Start date
There’s a reason I no longer keep Mesonauta. I liked my Heros more, and I was tired of them being skittish and scuffed up from the Mesonauta attacks.
In some cases some tinkering can help-- adding a boss fish to keep things in line, adding others of the same species so an individual has a social group of its own species to interact with, etc-- otherwise my standard procedure for a troublemaker is to remove it, whether to another tank (by itself or with fish it won't mess with), or trade or give it away, etc.
How much tinkering and trouble I'll go to for a particular fish (including whether it gets its own tank or a tank remake to accommodate it) depends on the fish, but I won't let a single fish constantly harass other fish in the tank.
Mesonauta I've had haven't been a problem and they don't behave that way in any wild footage I've seen. It's interesting that some are a problem in a tank-- and tank size doesn't seem to be the determining factor like it can be with Heros.
How much tinkering and trouble I'll go to for a particular fish (including whether it gets its own tank or a tank remake to accommodate it) depends on the fish, but I won't let a single fish constantly harass other fish in the tank.
Mesonauta I've had haven't been a problem and they don't behave that way in any wild footage I've seen. It's interesting that some are a problem in a tank-- and tank size doesn't seem to be the determining factor like it can be with Heros.
Thanks guys, I think I’ll remove him. I added a Geophagus Steindachneri 2 weeks ago that fit in right away, so I’ll have an Oscar,Severum, Chocolate and the Geo. That should fill out my 180g tank nicely . Thanks again!
I have always had aggression issues with festivums any time ive tried them too. To the point I dont even like the look of them anymore. I have been told by people that having more the x number helps and keeps the aggression to conspicifics. Ive only ever tried to add 1 to an established tank never a group always with Oscars and sevs too.
I wonder if part of the problem is keeping them with sevs or depends which species you have them with? In wild footage I've seen I tend to see them with Crenicichla, geos, angels, acara, characins, etc., and with the Mesonauta in groups. Just a thought.
I've always kept mine in groups of 6 - 8. Even with all the squabbling they do among themselves, they still pester other fish. It's not constant, steady aggression. It's just very fast, split second nips and pecks. But it made a lot of my larger fish nervous. I'd encourage people with Mesonauta to sit a good distance away from their tanks and watch how they behave when they think no one is looking -- mine wouldn't do it when I was in the room because they loitered around waiting for food. I think it's more common than people realize. Because they're not shredding scales and fins, or outright killing other cichlids, there's usually no (or little) physical signs that any of that takes place. My first clue there was an issue is when the Heros became jumpy and on-edge, and kept their bodies tilted up as if they were always watching above them.
This has been my experience with two different species of wild Mesonauta. I'm also wondering if you get a Mesonauta that has been farm-bred for generations, if some of that instinct has been bred out of them, similar to the way angels and Heros are not as aggressive in tank-bred forms as in their wild form. I have seen farm-raised Mesonauta in stores that just kind of hover there in one spot, or hide in the plants, and mine were never that way.
Someone on Facebook suggested I was keeping my groups in tanks that were too small but if a 210 gallon 6' tank is too small for a group of Mesonauta then I can't imagine what size you'd need for it to be successful.
This has been my experience with two different species of wild Mesonauta. I'm also wondering if you get a Mesonauta that has been farm-bred for generations, if some of that instinct has been bred out of them, similar to the way angels and Heros are not as aggressive in tank-bred forms as in their wild form. I have seen farm-raised Mesonauta in stores that just kind of hover there in one spot, or hide in the plants, and mine were never that way.
Someone on Facebook suggested I was keeping my groups in tanks that were too small but if a 210 gallon 6' tank is too small for a group of Mesonauta then I can't imagine what size you'd need for it to be successful.
This is an interesting concept, because we humans may see a 200 gallon box of water in our living room as large.
Wild fish that have been utilizing thousands of gallons before being captured, may see a 180 or 200 gallon tank as a puddle.
I have a 180 gal running at the moment, and in reality compared to the river my cichlids came from, it as quite miniscule.
A friend captured 15 Andinoacara for me between 2 and 4 inches in a river not far away.
Out of the 15, there were 3 males in the 4 inch range, and the most robust male killed the other two within about 3 days, driving one completely out of the tank, found on the lawn, and he eviserated the other.
I guess the dominant male felt, the 180 was too small for 3 four inch males.
He has left all 12 of the other females and less imposing cichlids alone, but has maintained dominance ever since, sometimes displaying authority, but never lethally, as it was in the beginning.
Although we as humans think we should be in control, in realty, if the tank doesn't fit the fishes needs, we really have no say in the matter, unless we buy another tank.