Jaguar Almost Ate My Brand New Shovelnose

[Lawlboom]

For the first time, I'm listening about the Jaguar. I've been thinking about this since the post, his aggression has definitely been growing week by week. My Hoplo looks fine, but has been taking a beating. He's tough as nails thank God. Surprisingly he fights back too (my Oscar is actually afraid of the Hoplo lol)

I will definitely take a look at the Loisellei. I'm not sure if any places would have one though. It was very hard to get the Jaguar and that seems even rarer.

I'm going to purposely over feed my Lima and lower the amount of food for my 125. I'll do pellet and flakes/just flakes every other day.

Luckily my tank is my "Oscar's Tank". He's like the warden. He's not aggressive unless there's aggression (started by the Jaguar mostly). He keeps the tank in check. He could easily eat 2/3 of my Cories but doesn't.... He did also grow up with them. That's why I feel like he'd be fine with the Shovelnose when he puts on some size

Anything with parachromis in-front of it is asking for aggression. They are beautiful though. I'd say don't be quick to write off a solo fish for the 125. If you haven't kept a monster that is 11-12 inches yet solo in a tank, it can be quite rewarding if you give it a chance. Set the tank up to compliment the colors you want and it can be a really interesting show piece. I blacked out a 75g tank for one Midas and it was my favorite tank. I also had a pair of Dovii in a 125 for a while until I rehomed them because I just simply couldn't move my 180g tank by myself.

 

[pops]

jag has no place in a 125 with other fish, they do not play nice and if a male will need something bigger than a 125 in the long run.

 

[Long Island Fish Guy]

Anything with parachromis in-front of it is asking for aggression. They are beautiful though. I'd say don't be quick to write off a solo fish for the 125. If you haven't kept a monster that is 11-12 inches yet solo in a tank, it can be quite rewarding if you give it a chance. Set the tank up to compliment the colors you want and it can be a really interesting show piece. I blacked out a 75g tank for one Midas and it was my favorite tank. I also had a pair of Dovii in a 125 for a while until I rehomed them because I just simply couldn't move my 180g tank by myself.

I could definitely see how a solo fish could be rewarding. I have put to much work and effort into my current stock to do that now. If something catastrophic were to happen I'd consider it.

I'm 90% sure I'm rehoming my Jaguar this weekend. It'll will be very sad, but I know it will benefit the overall tank.

 

[Lawlboom]

Glad you are doing the right thing!

 

[pops]

jags are an all in fish, unless you have 300g plus tank they are a jag tank, you have a 140g or 180g jag tank.

 

[Long Island Fish Guy]

As I am feeding my 125, my Jaguar is picking on any smaller fish that gets 2 inches within it. Surprisingly my Pike puts the Jaguar in it's place. My Jaguar has a nice nip on it's tail from the Pike now. Payback for what he's doing to the Hoplo!

It's funny, with this aggression I'm slowly falling out of love with my Jaguar.

Calling my LFS tomorrow to negotiate a deal. I'm going in on Friday. They get shipments in late Thursday night and always have incredible fish. Looks like I'll have a lot to choose from

 

[Long Island Fish Guy]

Just to give you an example, my Cories were all crowded around one sinking carnivore pellet I feed my Pike with. Typically they are split between the Pike and JD with my Cats getting w.e they can. My JD just pushed, not bit, a Cory out of the way to get a pellet. I have a very "community" like cichlid tank. WHICH I LIKE! After the Jaguar, my Pike is my most aggressive but he rarely does anything "bad".

I know cichlids are fish with "attitude", I like that. I just don't want them mauling other fish.

Any chance I can keep the Cories? I do like them, but if they can't coexist, they share the same fate as the Jaguar.

 

[Lawlboom]

If they can fit in someone's mouth they will be eaten. Jacks get some size. Cichlids 'attitudes' get worse with size. The opinion on the Jaguar is definitely right on. With your other fish there will be fighting you will just have to decide how much you will put up with. Some torn fins here and there, missing a scale, a fat lip... it's to be expected but you'll definitely know when someone was pushed too far they will look really ragged.

I don't mean to sound patronizing I simply want to share my experience to see if you could take something away from it. But I had a 125 with mixed cichlids a like green terror, Oscar, Jack Dempsey, Salvini, fire mouth you know the starter cichlids. It worked for a while and then The green Terror put some size on and claimed the return of my FX6. Anything they got near the return was attacked including me. So I netted him put them in a plastic tote time out tank for three days no lights. Then I did some reading on here and on other forms and I decided to lower my tank temperature to 78° instead of 80 and started feeding three times a day instead of two times a day. that tank was that my favorite tank all the way up until I moved and I rehomed everything in it.

What I'm getting at is be prepared for a lot of trial and error something she going to work somethings are going to not work as you're experiencing with your jaguar. It's part of what makes cichlids interesting at least for me. Just a word of warning though what works now might not work a week from now or two months from now. Or it might just watch for territories and observe the push and shove. If you were unlucky enough to have a fish claim the whole tank you'll probably have to rehome.

 

[Fish on Fire]

A solo jag is fine in a 125.

But if you want to keep one in a community setting, you need at least an 8' tank or to get super lucky with a jag that isn't really mean (that's incredibly rare).

Good luck with your stocking! Also post some pictures.

 

[Brandonclark88]

Just to give you an example, my Cories were all crowded around one sinking carnivore pellet I feed my Pike with. Typically they are split between the Pike and JD with my Cats getting w.e they can. My JD just pushed, not bit, a Cory out of the way to get a pellet. I have a very "community" like cichlid tank. WHICH I LIKE! After the Jaguar, my Pike is my most aggressive but he rarely does anything "bad".

I know cichlids are fish with "attitude", I like that. I just don't want them mauling other fish.

Any chance I can keep the Cories? I do like them, but if they can't coexist, they share the same fate as the Jaguar.

The cory cats will eventually need to be taken out of the aquarium. They do not grow large enough or fast enough and will be eaten or killed more than likely. Try a synodontis. I've had a lot of luck with featherfins in my tanks. They get a little larger and typically have enough attitude to go toe to toe with most medium sized cichlids. They are also excellent bottom feeders / cleaners. Do you know what type of pike you have? Depending on the species they can also be very aggressive and territorial. Like others have said, most cichlids are pretty mellow when they are small. Once they hit adult / subadult you will really see their agression come out. Just make sure everyone has their own territory in the tank they can claim as their own and plenty of hiding spots and you should be alright