Group of Aequidens- Need some advice...

[xEchOx]

So for the past 6 months or so I've been growing out a group of juvenile Aequidens or Adinoacara goldsaums. I have what I believe are 3 males and two females. There are two males who are significantly larger than the rest of the group. The largest one is close to 7 inches, with the next largest being a little over 6 inches. The remaining three are all very similar in size, roughly 4.5 inches long. No pair has formed at this point, but aggression between the two largest is starting to become a problem.

Tank: 75g
Inhabitants: 5 green terrors, 1 polypterus bichir, 1 spotted pictus cat, 1 hybrid synodontis cat, 2 silver dollars, a dozen buenos aires tetras whittled down to 4 by the bichir.

I really want a pair to form naturally, but it is looking more and more like I'm going to have to remove one of the two big guys. It's only begun recently but the biggest male has a large tear in his dorsal fin, and the runt male has a nice tear in his caudal fin. None of the damage is going to be permanent (from the looks of it) but I don't know how long it will be before someone really gets hurt.

Should I remove one of the two now?
Should I wait a little longer?
Should I remove two males?

What would you do?

 

[ryansmith83]

I'd leave my favorite male in the tank with the females and let him choose a mate. Then you can move the extra females into another tank with the second male and let him choose one. That is, if you have more than one tank and want more than one pair...

 

[xEchOx]

That is kind of what I was thinking. I am worried about the aggression dispersal though... removing the rival male might make him less aggressive, but it might make the females the new targets....

I do have other tanks but no room for another pair. If I get rid of them now, they'll be gone for good. Here's some pics for you guys just so you know what I'm looking at every night before I go to bed.


Alpha male (which also happens to be the 6 incher)

#2 As before, he's outgrown the Alpha male by quite a bit but for some reason remains subdominant.

 

[freebyrd]

Man those are nice I see your delema

 

[xEchOx]

Thanks bro. Yeah, I'm having a tough time deciding what to do. I really do like the way the alpha male looks though. Nice size nuchal hump and great colors so far.

 

[xEchOx]

Bump. Any more feedback?

 

[RLHam3]

did you get them all from the same source? if so then they are probably siblings. If they are siblings, then that would be inbreeding which leads to unhealthy offspring. (possibly deformities, shorter lifespan, less tollerant of stress, etc.)

 

[DCOWBOYS]

Beautiful GT's!!!

 

[xEchOx]

did you get them all from the same source? if so then they are probably siblings. If they are siblings, then that would be inbreeding which leads to unhealthy offspring. (possibly deformities, shorter lifespan, less tollerant of stress, etc.)

They are all from the same source. Petco. I am not concerned about producing high quality fry. If I was, I would have ordered them from Rapps or Davis. I mostly want to breed them for the experience.

 

[xEchOx]

Beautiful GT's!!!

Thanks.