Some Fish Just Don't Mix.

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wow sorry to hear... i have a 125 SA tank n my cousin had a krib he was getting rid of i figured hey would make for an entertaining snack for the oscar well turns out the 3"" krib runs the entire 125. it has even been know to grab pellets away from my red devil
 
i guess its like all walks of life. you just come across complete nutters!
 
Stibnite;3710842; said:
Alright, got pictures of the monster.

This guy has kept his dark dominant colors since he was about in inch long. I thought he was prettier when yellow and black striped as a juvie. Now, he nearly blends in with the Johanniis.

Additionally, I took a shot of the frozen remains of my Green Terror--what's left of him anyways.

I just cannot fathom how that little guy did this to my larger Cichlids.

Since I removed him from the African Tank, peace has reigned, and now no more fins appear torn.

Take caution when purchasing a male Auratus. All I can say.
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Thats what you GT looked like when you found him?
 
Stibnite;3708991; said:
Well, I learned a valuable lesson recently.

I've spent many years in the hobby, and came across some rediculously strange situations, but none like what happened this time.

I have a really large african setup with everything from angry venustus to mike tyson demasonis. I must say, this tank, while rewarding, is also the most taxing to take care of.

African cichlids are amazing fighters, and bloody aggressive by all means.

Some, however, take their flank-attacking, eye biting, and domineering personalities to a whole new level.

Johannii's are tough and mean, and can hold their own against a fish twice their size easily.

On the other hand, I have one male Melanochromis auratus about an inch shorter than my Johannii's that started ripping every fish in the tank a new fin.

This guy is roughly 4" long if he's lucky, yet he fought off a group of 5 other african cichlids larger than himself at the same time.

In a panick, I took this guy out of my African tank, as anyone who keeps africans know how bloody expensive some of them area--especially those sensative Dimidiochromis compressiceps. He was trying to kill the whole tank.

This is where my hurried mistake began--I was afraid to put this guy anywhere. My sick bays were full, and after giving it some thought, I decided to acclimate him temporarily to one of my South American tanks that I keep with a little higher Ph than the others.

I place him in this tank with 9"-14" Cichlids. I was afraid he was going to get eaten in the tank, but I was running late for work, and honestly, a $2.99 fish isn't going to be that great of a loss for me if he does get eaten. So I took the chance to avoid my other africans going through anymore stress, and I headed on to work.

Coming home later that day, I expected to come home to a missing Auratus.

What did I find, however?

I walked in and my jaw fell limp as I witnessed this little monster going Jackie Chan on my 10" Jaguar Managuense. He was beating the crap out of a 10" Jaguar that couldn't catch him.

Meanwhile, another sight caught my eye, as on the floor of the aquarium floated the remains of my 9" Green Terror.

The Green Terror was mutilated--torsa chew off on both sides, tail completely demolished, scales ripped off, and fins missing. Never in my life have I seen anything like that.

Meanwhile, I looked at the rest of the fish in my tank, and they were all huddled in a corner of the aquarium and frightened out of their minds.

Folks... I have heard of Africans being aggressive and taking on larger fish and all, but this situation took a whole new meaning to me.

I never thought in all my years in the hobby that any 4" fish could cause such devastation.

I have owned female Auratus before and didn't experience this type of behavior; this was my first time trying out a male, however.

I yanked him out of that tank before he caused any more damage to my Jag. Not knowing what else to do, I put him in my frog tank. Now the guy sits there staring at the glass all day with nothing to do.

I gotta say, lesson learned. I will never buy another male Auratus again.

Now, I must lament over the loss of a 9" Gorgeous Male Green Terror that I've had for quite a long time.

My LFS has some 10g fully equipped setups available for $35 right now. Maybe I will get one of those, and just put him in that tank by himself.

Don't get me wrong, I love aggressive fish, and own a ton of them--but that little guy made a pirahna look like a silver dollar--and without the capable bite to boot. I think he pulled it off with pure dexterity after watching how he tore into the fins of my much larger Jag.

I'll get a picture of the evil critter up soon so folks can see the wrothful monster.
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haha mines in a 10 with a gold fish.... he killed off his 6 other african tank mates as well as a couple angels. now its just him and the gold fish.... and the gold fish seems to put him in his place.
 
whoa thats crazy man!
 
erk419;3876894; said:
Thats what you GT looked like when you found him?
Click to expand...


Yeap, except the GT wasn't frozen like he is in that picture.

I eventually had to put the Auratus in my monster tank with the Arowana, Midas, Pike, etc.

He's a one-bite snack for any of them, but they don't bother him, and he simply guards a piece of driftwood all day, and fighting with the big Leporinus on and off.

Most comically, when I first put him in, the Arowana went right after him as food. The Auratus dodged and attacked the Arowana from underneath a few times and actually freaked the giant Aro out. Neither of them have quarraled since.

That is a species I've gained much respect for.
 
Someone gave me one of those a few months ago! I've tried him in several of my Oscars tanks with various tankmates and he kept beating everyone up so now he's in a 30 g alone with some mean ole' Tiger Barbs. Man oh man-I'm glad I didn't end up with the kind of massacre you did :-O I'm so sorry about the Terror.
I happen to really like this ornery SOB that I've got because he's got such a great people-personality. I'm glad I read your post. Now I know exactly what he is and what he's capable of.
 
Holy cow! What a little beast! I am a newbie fish keeper, not like the rest of you guys. I only have mostly peaceful, "newbie" sort of fish. But since I've been keeping fish for almost two years and have six tanks, I thought I was ready for cichlids. Got a 65 gal tank, did tons of research, then got a male and female auratus and another cichlid that I forgot the name of. Thought I wanted an "aggressive" tank. Ha! Didn't do enough research. Already had two apple snails in that tank as well as a dwarf gourami, a redtail shark and two raphael cats. Bad combo now, I know! Those cichlids just terrorized everyone in the tank. I had to take one of the cats out because they wouldn't leave it alone. When I noticed that everyone in the tank was hiding and the poor snails kept all of their tentacles tucked in all the time, I just had to return the cichlids to the store. Felt bad for the snails especially because we've had them so long, they are like family pets. Couldn't put them through that. I guess I'm just not ready for cichlids yet!
 
yeah in general africans dont mix well with ca/sa cichlids..i learned the hard way too...or i should say my poor flowerhorn learned the hard way.
 
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