Pellegrini hogging my tank - help with aggression

[Gavint85]

I have a 90 gallon tank with an 8" male Pellegrini, a pair of 3" Festivums, a 3" electric blue acara, 5 2" red head tapajos, and a bunch of lemon tetras. Until Sunday, the Pellegrini was usually hiding in the back corner and would rarely come out. Even during feeding time he was very skittish and hesitant to approach, all while the other fish attacked the food.

On Sunday I bought 5 3-4" Geo Mirabilis (removed the red heads) and added them to the tank . I also turned over a large piece of driftwood on the opposite side of where the Pellegrini usually hides, so that there would be more surface area for the geos to graze (it sort of make a tunnel now).

Now my Pellegrini is constantly out and about chasing the Mirabilis, and is starting to claim the entire tank as his own. He's even beginning to nip the fins of the Mirabilis. I do have 2 large pieces of driftwood and some plants to break up the line of sight, but the Pelligrini seems to be on the hunt for the Mirabilis, and searches for them all over the tank.

Any ideas to deal with the aggression would be appreciated.

 

[lunsforj]

I've never kept pellengrini, but currently have a pair of wild caught steindachneri(very similar). My steindachneri is way more rambunctious than your typical geos, and I would say they are more in line with medium aggressive central/northern South American brethren. I keep my steindachneri with Mesoheros ornatum. The male steindachneri constantly chases everything except the largest of the ornatum.

 

[cichlidfish]

IMO there isn't much you can do other than move fish. Once a cichlid targets another there is little you can do to stop it other than a larger tank or split them up.

 

[tlindsey]

IMO there isn't much you can do other than move fish. Once a cichlid targets another there is little you can do to stop it other than a larger tank or split them up.

+1

 

[cichlidfish]

+1

You have had this experience too? It sucks to have to rehome fish. But having a reason to upgrade or get another tank isn't so bad

 

[tlindsey]

You have had this experience too? It sucks to have to rehome fish. But having a reason to upgrade or get another tank isn't so bad

Yes and upgrades are a good thing lol ☺

 

[ryansmith83]

That's a fairly small tank for what will be a lot of cichlids as they grow. The pellegrini will probably continue to be a problem. I've heard they're a lot more aggressive than most surinamensis-group geos.

 

[duanes]

I agree with Ryan, a 90 gal is potentially too small for all those growing fish, and adding the new one probably broke the hierarchy they had previously set up. And although moving decor is standard practice when adding new fish to a tank with already established territorial lines, it seems to have backfired here, and often does with a single large alpha resident. The red hump was content before, but now realizes its ability to take over the entire tank.
I have always found the red hump Geo group need at least 6 ft tanks, even at small sizes and am actually surprised the peregrini remained passive until 8" for so long, In my six foot tanka the male in my group red hump would kill unreceptive females at half that size, at a moments notice.

 

[Woefulrelic]

Geos behaving like normal cichlids when at the top of the food chain...

 

[Gavint85]

Problem was this was not normal. The Pellegrini used to get spooked by the small red heads, and was always hiding in the corner. At no point ever did he make play the alfa role.

Also, unless I'm mistaken, a 90 gallon is fine for 6 geos that grow to 8". The festivums and the acara hang out at the top of the tank, so they're not really a factor in terms of fighting for space.