Making some changes.

[Buphy]

So as my dominate male Lyonsi begins to chase his tank mates around more, I am preparing to put in the divider to keep him on 1/3 of the tank. My question now becomes, do I keep my tiger silver dollars? I have 5 and with this divider in, they will be more crowded sharing ~83 gallons with 6 of the 7 Lyonsi.

I'm also considering moving my smallest 2 Lyonsi to my 125 SA "community" tank. With less compotision, will this cause them less stress and help them develop? Or will it destroy their chances of being re-introduced later to be potential mates?

I know I've asked some of these questions before, but with new people bringing experience to the forums, I always like more opinions. Thanks for y'all's responses!

 

[dan518]

What size are the lyonsi, are you trying to get a breeding pair out of that group,
What footprint have the dollars got

 

[duanes]

Putting the subordinate lyonsi in a community until they grow, sounds like a reasonable idea.
Or putting the alpha in a tank by itself.
But be aware if the alpha is in a tank by itself, it will own that tank, and probably not allow any new cichlids, even if they've grown in the community, unless its a totally receptive, in that exact moment, female, when you reintroduce.
Alone the alpha's attitude will be kill first, ask questions later.
Better to introduce it to a tank, that the females own, or have staked claims to.

 

[Buphy]

Largest of the Lyonsi are ~5" (the alpha, presumed male, and one other). The smallest are ~2" (2 of them as well). Everyone else falls pretty evenly between them (so 3 others). Yes, I am hoping for a breeding pair.

My current tanks are;
-125 with the Lyonsi and silver dollars.
-75 with my green terror.
-125 SA "community" (severums, geos, dwarf pikes, Denison barbs).
-40 breeder (not set up).

Do you feel that dividing the tank will have the same effect on the alpha male as having him in his own tank? I assume the alpha is male, but truthfully I don't know the gender of any particular fish yet... I want to do what's best for getting a breeding pair of these endangered fish.

 

[duanes]

Females can grow faster and larger, and become alpha type, but not as commonly.
But females can be just as deadly to smaller individual males.
I had a large female Tomocichla tuba wipe out 3 slightly smaller males within 24 hours, because she was ready, and they weren't.

And I have always had trouble dividing tanks of smaller fish from larger ones, especially at the @2" size or smaller.
They have easily slipped thru small spaces where the divider wasn't flush with the sides, so I have preferred separating in different tanks, but that may be my problem.
I've used sumps to hold problem fish (my sumps are almost always at least 2/3 full)
After a while I started keeping a 55 gal tank or 2 on a sump fishless, and at ready just in case one was needed in a pinch, for a beat up individual, or when a male needed to be removed from a tank full of eggs, fry, and a female. These tanks were also good when fry started to overwhelm the breeding tank. Probably why my house had too many tanks, and in every room including bathrooms.