Help with 125 Jag vs Vieja issue

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J

jason longboard

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 12, 2007
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california
In short, I got a pair of vieja supposedly synspilim several years back. I had 6 big silver dollars, a 6 inch chocolate, and the viejas. I lost the Chocolate in a bad water change from too much sand vacuuming.


The male ended up thrashing the female as they got bigger, just chased her a lot but never saw biting. The femal developed an issue that caused her not to be able to swim well, she still ate and such, and never once did a fish bother her not even him.

I let her live for a while peacefully until she got to obvious signs of deterioration. I put her down peacefully last week.

Now, I love this big 11 inch of so vieja but I dont want just him. I found a 6 inch or so JD and put that in, he chased it around a lot. So a guy in town gave me his female grown Jag that is a touch longer than my vieja.

She broke up the chaos, then several hours later, the vieja was going after her and the JD, lip locking and tearing the Jags lip and causing scale damage to the Jag and JD, forcing them in to the fake plants up top hiding for life.

Before all this he would drive my silver dollars crazy too.

I love this Jag, she was cool in a big tank with lots of cichlids.

Im willing to trade this guy my vieja for the Jag or sell it to LFS, as much as I love the fish, I only have room for one tank and hes a dick.

Now he is in a bucket with air stone, the jag and jd have stare downs now and then but nothing crazy.

Could I add a few more cichlids with the Jag and JD and be done with it?

Im thinking my vieja might be a cross because synispilim are not supposed to be this mean.

Basically its a 125, JD, some big silver dollars, and the Jag right now, but I would like something else cichlid wise, not oscars.

Just for reference Ive kept all types of fish for over 20 years just never had a Jag, or Viejas as adults.

I guess I could say screw the jag and the vieja,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but I do like the jag and jd.
 
I'd leave the jag and jd as is in the 125 maybe be able to add a con or salvini something small and durable but nothing large. My male jag claimed my 125 as his and had my firemouth and jd in hiding for a good while. Jags don't play well with others. I'd rehome your vieja it sounds like it'd like the entire tank to itself and will eventually make it so.


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It is possible, just possible, that taking the Syn out for a day or two and re-introducing it when the Jag and JD are comfortable in the tank could change things significantly. I've also had success putting a divider up for 3-4 days, letting whooped fish heal and calm down. Pull the divider and everybody acts like nothing ever happened--somtimes. At least try before you rehome a big, full-grown Syn that you've spent a year or so getting to this point. Nice big adult fish are hard to come by and represent a significant investment of time and patience. I don't part with them easily.
 
Another thought. You may find that as the Jag gets more established in that tank, SHE'S as big a bully as the Syn is now. You may well NEED a big, aggressive, adult fish to put in that tank because nothing else can live with that Jag. Luck for you, you already have one -- a big Syn that you've had for years. Try to make it work.
 
So you think the jag would slowly kill off each cichlid one by one if I crowded it a bit? Thats obviously what the vieja wants to do. Hes not happy till somethings bleeding in the corner lying on its side.
 
Maybe Ill pass on both though I like the jag, I think I just want something more of a group of cichlids that will stay somewhat chill and the silvers. I know my vieja is a dick and the jag might eventualy flip out.

I know I can try what you said too, Ill think about it, I just know this guy has tortured before and I see it again, hes just that way.
 
I have a 125 with 20 Vieja in it. Now, the biggest is an 8 inch Syn, 3 7-8 inch Zonatus that are less than a year old, and 5 smaller Argentea. An 8 inch Breidohri. If they're crowded, they grow up together, and they're young, they'll live together. If I moved most of those fish into another tank and left...say....just the Syn and a couple big (7-8 inches now) Zonatus in there, there'd be war. Something about crowding Vieja keeps em from fighting. There's limits--I know this can't last, I think once they're adult they'll fight more, but I really believe and have seen that too little crowding encourages fighting as much as too much crowding does. That's WITH VIEJA.

Not sure this helps you much because you have a somewhat solitary adult/near adult Vieja. Maybe he's too old to learn to live in a crowded tank--hard to say? But, it sounds like the guy who had your Jag before you raised your Jag that way? And, of course, there's variability among fish of the same species. My Syn is totally calm, bothers no one, but it's the top fish in the tank. Yours may be different--or, mine may go psycho if I added a fish that it sees as a competitor.

I'd try to keep them all if it was me. Try separating the Syn out for a day or two, try a divider for a few days, etc. Then try adding 4 or 5 young, medium size, Vieja. In the 4-6 inch range. See what happens then. Just having more fish to interact with might calm things for you. Ya never know til you try. If the Syn just won't get with the program, trade it out. Maybe the Jag will stay calm and you'd have some cool fish in there. If the Jag flips out one day, trade her out, too.

All I know is a BUNCH of Vieja can live in your size tank together under the right circumstances. And too few fish will fight alot just like too many fish will.
 
I wouldn't crowd a already aggressive vieja and jag in a 125 I've watched my father do it all my life it usually didn't end well. vieja can be kept in a little more density than the average CA cichlid but when one displays aggression like that it needs to be upgraded or left alone.

A 125 realistically isn't that big and good for keeping big cichlids in high density. In a 180 maybe but not a 125, I've had multiple 10-12 inch fish claim my entire 125 as theirs and either kill or make life miserable for every other inhabitant. The vieja IMO won't do well with others In that tank especially not with something like a jag ,female or not may kill it or alternatively be killed by it if not allowed to settle. If you want multiple individuals avoid the big bruisers or upgrade the tank


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