harmony is hard to find

[graber]

my true green terror that i bought a few weeks ago from rapps was doing just fine.He had assumed dominance of the tank and seemed to fair in his rule.the other day for no apparent reason he decided to shred my chocolate cichlid ,now hes dead..wtf. Just the way it goes in the world of cichlids!

 

[ford130]

Are any 2 cichlid truely the same, there seems to masses of differences in temperament in same species. I have read so so many post on dozens of forums of people asking will this fish go with this fish. People following the generals of that species will shake their head "oh no no no" you cant put them together. It makes me laugh because I am sat watching the exact species swimming around happily together and have been for months/years. They say Rainbow Cichilds are wusses and dont grow much more then 3/4" well i have 2 that are pushing 5" and take no crap from anyone except Oscar. I had a blood red parrot that would bully my oscar who was an inch or two bigger. Both breaking the usual rules.

Cichilids possibly the most human like fish when it comes to personality differences.

 

[smitty03281964]

Ford130 no one could have explained it any better including myself. I tell people the same thing. Look I have 8 managuense in a 180 and people say all the time they find it hard to believe.

 

[Gruff Master]

I agree that cichlids can have their own personalities that may at times be very contrary to their species, but I still believe there are some definite combinations that are highly likely to fail. In the scenario of the GT and the Chocolate there are some things that the OP has not mentioned that may shed more light on what may have contributed to the sudden attack by the GT. What is the size of the tank? What are the types and sizes of the other tankmates? How is the tank decorated? Cichlids can switch behaviors at a drop of a hat some times for no apparent reason. But then there are also times when outside influences can trigger their change. Oh, about the 8 Managuense in a 180gal; I wish you luck, man. This must be a very new setup or very small fish. I have seen Jags live together in large numbers as juveniles but after a bit of age and growth things quickly change. Even if 8 adult Jags are able to live peacefully in a 180gal, you still will have to deal with the sheer size of their adult bodies. Groups of Jags can definitely live together in very large aquariums but I really think 8 in a 180 is pushing it.

 

[VRWC]

Are any 2 cichlid truely the same, there seems to masses of differences in temperament in same species. I have read so so many post on dozens of forums of people asking will this fish go with this fish. People following the generals of that species will shake their head "oh no no no" you cant put them together. It makes me laugh because I am sat watching the exact species swimming around happily together and have been for months/years. They say Rainbow Cichilds are wusses and dont grow much more then 3/4" well i have 2 that are pushing 5" and take no crap from anyone except Oscar. I had a blood red parrot that would bully my oscar who was an inch or two bigger. Both breaking the usual rules.

You probably have never kept adult sizes of aggressive fish, which rainbows, oscars and blood parrots are not. Anyone can keep 3-5"ers and make the claims you have and then say no one knows what they are talking about, but keep the fish for 5+ years and get back with everyone. Thats what most of these models/ generalizations are based on, LONG TERM compatibility.

As far as smittys setup with 8 jags in a 180...come back at Christmas and well see how thats going. My $$$ is on that he'll have less than half of those still...probably because he had to get rid of some to avoid useless murders, the dominants killed off the submissives or a pair wiped everyone else out.

Youre kidding yourself if you think you are the Lewis and Clark of Ichthyology and have figured out a new found way to keep, what you think is aggressive cichlids, together in any standard sized aquarium. Eventually, well probably see you on here asking "What happened to my xxxxxx? Everything was fine for 9 months then it killed everything", just like most everyone else that didnt heed the info they found or were presented with.

That being said, there are always exceptions to the rules and I myself used to like to experiment with different combos, but it usually always ended up like someone else that had done the same said it would...

 

[ford130]

Ford130 no one could have explained it any better including myself. I tell people the same thing. Look I have 8 managuense in a 180 and people say all the time they find it hard to believe.

Thank you smitty

How many times and not just with fish do animals not behave true to nature and just turn on handlers/tankmates etc. Even humans just flip for no reason, who really knows why any animal including humans do anything. I think if I was kept in a confined space with others sooner or later I would loose the plot, although eating/killing my companions might be an extreme reaction.

You can play the odds but the true outcome will never be 100% certain.