Help needed- aggressive male aequidens sp. atabapo

[darth pike]

It sounds like a pain in the arse, but once she is nice and fattened up I would switch their tanks, giving her the big one to get used to first ... then later introduce the male. The other option would be to completely rearrange the 75 gallon before adding the female back.

 

[ryansmith83]

It sounds like a pain in the arse, but once she is nice and fattened up I would switch their tanks, giving her the big one to get used to first ... then later introduce the male. The other option would be to completely rearrange the 75 gallon before adding the female back.

lol, that was my thought, too, but I didn't even say it because it sounds completely backwards from my first recommendation. The truth is, once the female has recovered from her stress, you can swap her and the male out again to let the female get used to the 75G and establish herself, then try re-adding the male. It depends on how much effort you really want to invest into it.

For the record, this did work for my four severums. I had two reds and two wild-types and they were all in quarantine together, but one day three of them decided they liked being a trio better than a foursome. One of the wild-types was aggressively chased and nipped by the others. It went into a tank by itself to recoup and regrow its fins that it had lost, then it went into my 150G community for a while until it was fat and happy. Eventually I moved the trio into the 150G and I never saw a problem again. They're all happy together now.

 

[darth pike]

Oh, I don't mean right away. I agree with moving her so quickly again would add to the stress. Rest, recovery, and food first then switch around.

 

[fishie111]

So far, the male and female are doing much better now that they are separated.

The female is timid, but explores the 29G tank as long as I'm not in front of it- she's a bit braver at feeding time. The male is no longer aggressive to his tankmates in the 75G.

I may try again in a few weeks, or I may just leave them separate. I can put the female in my 46G with angelfish and keyholes.

Alternatively, I can leave her in the 29G as a "wet pet".

Do you think that the 29G is too small for this long term (she's only 3.5 inches head to tail and about a year old)?

 

[ryansmith83]

So far, the male and female are doing much better now that they are separated.

The female is timid, but explores the 29G tank as long as I'm not in front of it- she's a bit braver at feeding time. The male is no longer aggressive to his tankmates in the 75G.

I may try again in a few weeks, or I may just leave them separate. I can put the female in my 46G with angelfish and keyholes.

Alternatively, I can leave her in the 29G as a "wet pet".

Do you think that the 29G is too small for this long term (she's only 3.5 inches head to tail and about a year old)?

After she's all healed up I'd try her with the angels and keyholes to see how she does. She may enjoy the company. She'd be in a slightly larger tank with other cichlid companions. If she doesn't get aggressive, it's basically a win-win, right?

 

[fishie111]

Well, I tried her with just the keyholes (I was nervous that she'd be too rough on the small angels, so I moved them to the 29G where she had been) in the 46G and she sort of immediately took over. She beat up one of the praecox that came to check her out and then starting hunting the cherry barbs (surprising because all of these fish are bigger than the phantoms that she shared the 29G with).

I decided to move her back out quickly while I thought through how I could relocate the smaller fish.

So, I rearranged the decor in my 75G and added several artificial plants. Then, I put her back in with the male and his current tankmates. After some initial chasing, everything settled down. She is now out and about often as are all of the others.

Now, the 75G tank has way too many cichlids, but is peaceful. I think that there are enough robust fish to spread out the aggresion, while still enough room for the fish to get alone time in their own spaces.

I'm going to have to move some fish to the 46G- but I've got to get some of the smaller fish out first.

 

[fishie111]

Well- I _might_ have a pair. The male is chasing the female, but not as incessantly and this is alternating with periods of the two hanging out together. Unfortunately, now that they are happier with each other, I think they are trying to claim most of tank.

I'm thinking moving the pair to the 46G might be best for all, but I'm trying to figure out what might be able to coexist with them in that smaller tank. I do think that having the extra cichlids around might be helping distract the pair when they are in ugly moods.

I could move an adult festivum to the 46G with them, or keep them with the 3 keyholes that are currently in the 46G. I also have the 2 angels I mentioned earlier.

My main concern is that the angels or keyholes will not be robust enough to handle living with a pair of "aequidens". Also, two of the keyholes are also paired.

Then there is the matter of dithers and something to keep the bottom stirred up. I think that whatever goes in the tank with the acaras needs to be pretty tough.