Ok, so I have a 55 gallon tank that I set up to be a show/ grow out tank mainly for Taiwan reef cichlids with some other africans mixed in (about 9 mbuna: red zebra, some yellow hybrid or a female of a certain species, and some albino mbuna that I can't ID) and 4 peacocks: what looks to be a Ngara or hybrid male with similar coloration, a sunshine peacock, a strawberry peacock, and a female bi-color (both the male and another female died due to shipping stress)). A few weeks ago I purchased what I was told to be a juvenile Taiwan Reef cichlid, I suspected it was a Red Empress juvenile but went with what the "african cichlid expert" said it was, the main species I wanted to focus on. All of the fish are fine in the tank, there hasn't been too much aggression although the two largest male mbuna, nearly 5", keep everyone off of the rocks, the hap and peacocks are largely ignored if they don't attempt to enter the rocks. Well, today I just picked up a trio of taiwan reef cichlids to increase the number of Taiwan reef in the tank and the one that was already in the tank, think it's a she at 3.5", immediately showed interest and began displaying in front of the new haps; this leads me to my problem (Yes, I know, many of you will say that I have too many fish in the tank and that mbuna shouldn't be placed with haps + peacocks unless they are yellow labs, and that would still be pushing it. The aggression level hasn't been high enough for me to make any changes and aside from the few nips that they received on the first days, the hap and peacocks are completely nip free right now with perfect finage and are showing decent color for their size).
1. The original fish that I purchased as a "Taiwan Reef" cichlid looks to be something else entirely. At 3.5" its body is noticeably bulkier than the largest of my new Taiwan reef cichlids, the male juvenile which is 3" long. Not only that, but the eyes are a bit smaller in eye to head ratio, the black bar pattern on the body also differs noticeably. Now that I have the true Taiwan Reef juveniles to compare it to, I can see that it is actually that of the Red Empress juvenile. Can these two species coexist peacefully as adults?
2. The original "Taiwan reef" cichlid was initially seen as a female due to a lack of color at its size. However, with the introduction of the new trio of Taiwan reef cichlids from a breeder, it's displaying male characteristics in how it flashes its fins & displays itself for the other haps. Do female haps exhibit this behavior as well or is it strictly a male thing?
I'll try to update with picks next time. Thanks.
1. The original fish that I purchased as a "Taiwan Reef" cichlid looks to be something else entirely. At 3.5" its body is noticeably bulkier than the largest of my new Taiwan reef cichlids, the male juvenile which is 3" long. Not only that, but the eyes are a bit smaller in eye to head ratio, the black bar pattern on the body also differs noticeably. Now that I have the true Taiwan Reef juveniles to compare it to, I can see that it is actually that of the Red Empress juvenile. Can these two species coexist peacefully as adults?
2. The original "Taiwan reef" cichlid was initially seen as a female due to a lack of color at its size. However, with the introduction of the new trio of Taiwan reef cichlids from a breeder, it's displaying male characteristics in how it flashes its fins & displays itself for the other haps. Do female haps exhibit this behavior as well or is it strictly a male thing?
I'll try to update with picks next time. Thanks.
