Stalsbergi aggression

nzeng1111

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May 18, 2020
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I remember reading a tfh article implying that the stalsbergi's aggressive reputation was based on it's large proportion of wc specimens which would be more aggressive than captive specimens.

Can anybody with captive bred andinoacara stalsbergi attest to the aggression of them?
 

duanes

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IMO you would have to inbreed them over many generations to “dumb down” their natural behaviors. F1 or F2 fish don’t stray that far from their wild counterparts. Aggression in most cases has way more to do with tank size and stocking density.
Agree
and much has to do with the amount of space they are given.
They will possibly be more aggressive in a 4 ft tank, than a 6 ft tank, and less aggressive in a 8ft tank.
They will also be more aggressive with other cichlids as tank mates, than non-cichlid species.
I keep A stalsbergi's smaller cousin, Andinoacara coerleopunctatus in a 180 gal tank.
I started with about a dozen young Andinoacara.
The alpha male killed all except 3 females, and the non-cichlids in that tank, and as of now there is a sort of detente.
I would expect similar if not "more" aggression from A stalsbergi.
 

duanes

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I don't think anyone should be surprised at the aggressive nature of stalsbergi, or any of the cichlids from west of the Andes, compared to Amazonian types east of the Andes.
In the east, there are hundreds of cichlid species, evolved to live together in varied crowded communities.
West of the Andes, these are less than a dozen cichlid species, usually living far from each other..
When you compare other similar loner cichlids from around the world, aggression is also similar, such as M beanii from northern Mexico, or N haitienesus the lone cichlid from the island of Haiti, both intolerant of other cichlids in even large tanks, both the only cichlids in their respective habitats.
And then consider the rift lake Africans that live in various crowded conglomerations, where crowded tanks are almost mandatory.
 
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C. Breeze

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Not very fast compared to some others, but I wasn’t feeding them like crazy either. They’re all right now between 3 and 5 inches total length. I expect them to pretty good size at the end of the summer. Unless they start spawning. Then they might not grow as much
 
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