Some of it is having sufficient running room. For sequia convicts, the minimum space for breeding pairs seems to be a half meter but my pairs would divide a 80 inch tank. I thought about keeping jaguars but they're only a little bit shorter than the width of my tank (20 inches).
When I kept convicts in a 30 gallon tank, the breeding pair would kill other fish.
I also take out any fish that can't hold bottom territory and ends up in the upper tank corners. Fish that grow up together seem to sort things out better than fish that don't.
Territorial markers don't necessarily break up line of sight, but they definitely give fish a visible border to posture over. Rocks, driftwood, roof tiles -- it's all good (living in Nicaragua, weathered roof tiles are very easy to get).
I do think cichlids can recognize other individual fish. African Freshwater Butterfly fish (Pantodon buchholzi) can't (my small male never learned that the big female would kick his caudal); my Laetacara dorsigera and my current sequia convicts definitely could. One male dorsigera learned that if he responded to one female's overtures, the other male would attack him, so if the female displayed to him, he would respond a tiny bit before running (they finally managed to oust the previously more dominant male, so there was more going on with individual preferences than I'd believed possible with fish).
Give cichlids more space than you think they need. Put in some boundary markers and some hiding places the larger fish can't get into. Take out fish that can't hold their own close to the substrate or mid water or under floating structure (depending on species). Three pairs tends to spread the aggression if you have a big enough tank.
When I kept convicts in a 30 gallon tank, the breeding pair would kill other fish.
I also take out any fish that can't hold bottom territory and ends up in the upper tank corners. Fish that grow up together seem to sort things out better than fish that don't.
Territorial markers don't necessarily break up line of sight, but they definitely give fish a visible border to posture over. Rocks, driftwood, roof tiles -- it's all good (living in Nicaragua, weathered roof tiles are very easy to get).
I do think cichlids can recognize other individual fish. African Freshwater Butterfly fish (Pantodon buchholzi) can't (my small male never learned that the big female would kick his caudal); my Laetacara dorsigera and my current sequia convicts definitely could. One male dorsigera learned that if he responded to one female's overtures, the other male would attack him, so if the female displayed to him, he would respond a tiny bit before running (they finally managed to oust the previously more dominant male, so there was more going on with individual preferences than I'd believed possible with fish).
Give cichlids more space than you think they need. Put in some boundary markers and some hiding places the larger fish can't get into. Take out fish that can't hold their own close to the substrate or mid water or under floating structure (depending on species). Three pairs tends to spread the aggression if you have a big enough tank.
