I think adult fish get acclimated to certain things, and just take longer to adjust; juvies are much more adaptable. I know when I used to buy adult fish back in the day often they were wild-caught, so their adjustment period was longest of all, but even tank raised big fish can be a little delicate at first.
buying adult fish
- Thread starter darthodo
- Start date
Yeah. My wild-caught dovii was an inch when he was caught and he adjusted real quick. Can't tell him from a tank-raised fish. But an older tank-raised fish will take a while to adjust to a new home. Individual fish will adjust differently as well. These cichlids have such different personalities. That's why it is hard to give hard and fast answers on the forums.
you got me thinking - let's say you get juvies, raise them to adults, then move them to a bigger tank. What happens???
ive never had a problem buying larger fish and acclimating them and getting them adjusted to the community. once in a while ill get a shy guy, but they come out for the most part. never lost a fish due to buying it at a larger size
when i bought my adult female dovii around 11" she took around a month to really settle in. she had been a pair with her male for her whole life, then 1 day snapped and killed him! not only did i buy her and put her in a new tank and surroundings, she was also sulking for her partner.
i've always thought CA cichlids have alot of personality and i also think they are highly intelligent. lol thats why i have so many of them!!!
i've always thought CA cichlids have alot of personality and i also think they are highly intelligent. lol thats why i have so many of them!!!
darthodo;2472699; said:
Several adult cichlids I pulled out of ponds in Hawaii never acclimated to tank life, while others were fine after a day or so.
I can say 100% of the cichlids I caught under the 3-4" range acclimated just fine.
I've always got juvies up until about a month ago when I got my 8" Tex. I thought it was going to starve to death because he didn't eat for about a week and a half. He's still pretty skitish if you walk up on the tank too fast, but he seems like he's coming along slowly. Unless its a rescue I think I might stick to juvies, in a lot of ways I think I enjoy watching them grow anyway.
peathenster;2474013; said:
That's basically what I've always done with juvies. It (like others said) depends on what kind of Cichlid it is. I moved my Oscars several different times as juvies and and "teenagers" and they're begging for food as soon as they hit the water in the new tank. I've got some Texas fry I've raised from 1/2" that are now 4" and they still bolt & hide when I walk up to the tank. My Flowerhorn is 5"-6" now and has been moved several times and he's like my Oscars-begging the second he hits the water in the new tank.
