Another I got that Festivum issue

[ryansmith83]

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.

I understand that. I guess my point was, people on Facebook claimed my tank was too small and that was the reason for the aggression, yet they were keeping Mesonauta in 90s and 125s and telling me theirs were fine. So in this case the tank was not too small; mine was larger than all the tanks of the people who felt the Mesonauta were peaceful.

This makes me wonder if given a larger tank and a group dynamic, Mesonauta are more bold and likely to assert their dominance than in smaller and more crowded settings?

 

[neutrino]

This makes me wonder if given a larger tank and a group dynamic, Mesonauta are more bold and likely to assert their dominance than in smaller and more crowded settings?

Back when I kept them mine they were in busy 75 gal tanks. The shops where I got my fish at the time did get wilds of various species, and I definitely had some wild discus as a result, but it was years ago and I couldn't swear to the provenance of the Mesonauta one way or the other... also I typically had one or two of them, not a group.

 

[Zanzag]

Mine just keeps everyone out of his area.

But when my blue acara pair wants his area he moves quick.