Cichlid pairs with divider

[sbrady5pts]

I recently acquired a large grammodes pair. It sounds like the pair has historically had a divider and I was hoping to have them live without one. So far it’s not going well, as the male has been beating on her.

has anyone ever had success converting a pair that needed a divider to living peacefully without one?

they Are in a 125 gallon alone with some silver dollars.

 

[tlindsey]

I recently acquired a large grammodes pair. It sounds like the pair has historically had a divider and I was hoping to have them live without one. So far it’s not going well, as the male has been beating on her.

has anyone ever had success converting a pair that needed a divider to living peacefully without one?

they Are in a 125 gallon alone with some silver dollars.

I know that you can cut a opening for only the female can get thru if she's smaller.

 

[newworld]

Put them in a 500 w a lot of hiding spots should be fine

 

[Milingu]

Put them in a 500 w a lot of hiding spots should be fine

This.
Anything smaller will not work long-term. I tried a few times in a 125 full of hiding spots. It always ended in drama. I either had to separate the beat up female immediately with maximum an hour to react or I lost her in the end because she jammed herself in such small places that she couldn't get out herself and died of stress.

 

[sbrady5pts]

Bummer. It’s so crazy how some pairs are totally fine and some just can’t get along without the divider

 

[sbrady5pts]

What about doing an all male tank and an all female tank? Does that reduce the aggression?

 

[duanes]

This.
Anything smaller will not work long-term. I tried a few times in a 125 full of hiding spots. It always ended in drama. I either had to separate the beat up female immediately with maximum an hour to react or I lost her in the end because she jammed herself in such small places that she couldn't get out herself and died of stress.

Agree,
the alternative is allowing them to spawn thru the divider, that has happened quite frequently for those cichlids that don't get along, but seem compelled to spawn anyway

 

[sbrady5pts]

I was hoping to avoid dividers.

I’m going to try two things.

1. leave the female solo in the tank for a while then re introduce the male.

2. Split my other pairs up. Put my males together in one tank and my females together in another. I have 6 125+ gallon tanks

 

[Milingu]

I never tried multiple males but I had multiple females in one tank. Long story short, two of them paired up, laid eggs and started beating up anybody else. They didn't go fully overkill like the males tend to do but they still deal a lot of damage without much warning like fin nipping etc.