Just how aggressive is Red Empress?

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dianas

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 16, 2009
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Milton, FL
Just how aggressive is Red Empress, especially with peacocks. Here is my planned stocking list of all males in a 120g tank. For those who have had Red Empress, are they any more aggressive than the fish I plan on adding? Thanks. :)

  • Benga Yellow
  • Ussisya
  • Lwanda Red Top
  • Ruby Red
  • Violet Ungi
  • Ngara Flametail
  • Hap Obliquedens
  • Oto. Litho. Yellowblaze
  • Placidochromis Phenochilus
  • Super Red Empress
  • Taiwan Reef
  • C. Moori (Blue Dolphin)
  • 5 Yellow Labs
  • Rusty
  • 5 Acei
 
dianas;2962901; said:
Just how aggressive is Red Empress, especially with peacocks. Here is my planned stocking list of all males in a 120g tank. For those who have had Red Empress, are they any more aggressive than the fish I plan on adding? Thanks. :)

  • Benga Yellow
  • Ussisya
  • Lwanda Red Top
  • Ruby Red
  • Violet Ungi
  • Ngara Flametail
  • Hap Obliquedens
  • Oto. Litho. Yellowblaze
  • Placidochromis Phenochilus
  • Super Red Empress
  • Taiwan Reef
  • C. Moori (Blue Dolphin)
  • 5 Yellow Labs
  • Rusty
  • 5 Acei
Click to expand...
do not put empress with peacocks, i did that last year lost my beautiful male peacock he was about 6 inches.they hated each other.
 
That's my other question. I'll be adding all fish at once (making a trip to a local fish farm where I can get them at good price) If I add large (4" adults) will there be more aggression between all fish ? Would I be better off going with med size (2.5-3") to minimize aggression? All fish would be males. Tx.
 
Haps and peacocks generally are not aggressive, however once in a while someone breaks the rules. If you go with the 3" size and let them mature together, you have a much better chance and it is much cheaper. You also get to see them mature, which is fun.

You should be able to stock with 30 (if this is a 6' tank) fish with no problems. Of course make sure your tank is cycled to about 3 ppm of ammonia with adequate bio and mechanical filtration.

Don't setup any caves, haps and peacocks like more open areas, but do put in a couple tall standing rocks and medium to small sizes that will break line of sight and allow them to swim amongst the rocks. Also less areas for an aggressive fish to claim as his territory.
 
dianas;2962901; said:
Just how aggressive is Red Empress, especially with peacocks. Here is my planned stocking list of all males in a 120g tank. For those who have had Red Empress, are they any more aggressive than the fish I plan on adding? Thanks. :)

  • Benga Yellow
  • Ussisya
  • Lwanda Red Top
  • Ruby Red
  • Violet Ungi
  • Ngara Flametail
  • Hap Obliquedens
  • Oto. Litho. Yellowblaze
  • Placidochromis Phenochilus
  • Super Red Empress
  • Taiwan Reef
  • C. Moori (Blue Dolphin)
  • 5 Yellow Labs
  • Rusty
  • 5 Acei
Click to expand...

I think you will be fine. Red Empress are one of my favorites. Currently, I have 7 in a 300. I also have some assorted Placid (including much smaller Phenochilus), a ton of peacocks, and a few mbuna (including yellow labs and Acei).

Sometimes the Red Empress will chase some of the other fish, but it's mainly male on male agression against other Red Empresses. (I have 4 males).

I think a 120 gallon will be large enough so you won't have an agression problem.


I like your list. The only potential red flag I see is C. Moori (Blue Dolphin). I have had difficulty in keeping those in my tank. They seemed very passive and never got comfortable in the tank (although they were in with much larger fish). They died about a month later. But perhaps I got some bad stock. It's certainly worth a try. Obviously my experience is pretty limited with them.
 
Rockydog;2966194; said:
Haps and peacocks generally are not aggressive, however once in a while someone breaks the rules. If you go with the 3" size and let them mature together, you have a much better chance and it is much cheaper. You also get to see them mature, which is fun.

You should be able to stock with 30 (if this is a 6' tank) fish with no problems. Of course make sure your tank is cycled to about 3 ppm of ammonia with adequate bio and mechanical filtration.

Don't setup any caves, haps and peacocks like more open areas, but do put in a couple tall standing rocks and medium to small sizes that will break line of sight and allow them to swim amongst the rocks. Also less areas for an aggressive fish to claim as his territory.
Click to expand...


:iagree:
 
I've tried to keep them a couple of times with no luck. Each time they became to aggressive..

Give it a try and trade him if it doesn't work. If you have two males, they may go after each other and leave the others alone.

BTW I think adult males with no females would work best when added at the same time.
 
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