Rotkeil Question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
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daleteekz

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 27, 2011
205
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16
Sydney, Australia
I recently got 2 Rotkeil's.

How well do 2 of them normally go together? I have had severum's before with no issues. But with these 2, one seems to be getting beat up a bit.

Should I separate and just keep 1? Or is there a different solution?
 
Establishing dominance. You can try adding tall décor, like plants or driftwood, to break line of sight, or add a shoal of dithers for more distractions.
 
I have the same issue with my red severum. One has grown much larger then the other all within about a month. but the bully doesn't seem to be causing damage he is jsut keeping the other in its corner. The funny thing is the dominant one I thought was female and the bullied one is male confirmed by others on MFK when they were both the same size.

I wonder if this is one of these fish that there needs to be only one or a whole group?
 
They are like discus. If you keep two juveniles together, you'll go through a phase where one is dominant over the other. It happened when I grew out two super reds with a group of Mesonauta. Until they were about 4" one harassed the other constantly.

Your best solution is adding more, or removing one. They either need to be in a small group where the aggression is more spread out, or kept as singles. Sometimes you can keep adult males together in community setups. I've tried this with females and it didn't work out so well. They were very aggressive with one another.
 
terrors r us said:
I have one male and two females and for now it`s working but these fish are not as mellow as we are lead to believe
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Is it the 2 males that are at issue? Perhaps, 1 male is competing for the female, and trying to drive the other male away
 
Thanks for the input guys. Too expensive for me to add more.

I will have to remove 1 of them.

One other thought, would it work if i added more gold or green severums?
 
It would work with any kind of sev. it doesn't matter what kind of severum is present. Even though they're not conspecifics, they will be treated as such, and the aggression will be spread out, as Ryan said.
 
As with most cichlids, it can totally depend on the individual's temperament. My male Rotkiels and Super Reds have shown to be less tolerant of other males than my Greens and Golds. Even in larger groups in my experience, there is more aggression with Rot's than with the others. If they're aggressive to the point that one is losing fins and scales, Separate them.
 
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