Umbee Question

[JDCichlid]

Hello everybody. I’ve read these forums for years, but joined because I needed some help. I just ordered a 393 gallon tank from glass cages (7’x3’wide x2.5’tall). I ordered this specifically to get my first Umbee pair. I have 7 rio chacamax bifasciatus from Dan at cichlids of the americas. I know umbees and Vieja won’t mix long term, but was curious if a group of umbees and Vieja could be grown out together for several months before separating?

Will the umbees kill the Vieja immediately or will they be fine until the umbees reach a certain size/sexual maturity? Glass Cages told me my tank will be delivered in 6-8 weeks. The bifasciatus are currently 4.5 inches. I have not ordered any umbees, because I wanted to get my tank first. The selfish reasoning behind my question is that my Vieja are in a 300 gallon stock tank and it would be more enjoyable to watch them grow out in my new aquarium. Thanks in advance.

 

[djsaltynuts]

Hello everybody. I’ve read these forums for years, but joined because I needed some help. I just ordered a 393 gallon tank from glass cages (7’x3’wide x2.5’tall). I ordered this specifically to get my first Umbee pair. I have 7 rio chacamax bifasciatus from Dan at cichlids of the americas. I know umbees and Vieja won’t mix long term, but was curious if a group of umbees and Vieja could be grown out together for several months before separating?

Will the umbees kill the Vieja immediately or will they be fine until the umbees reach a certain size/sexual maturity? Glass Cages told me my tank will be delivered in 6-8 weeks. The bifasciatus are currently 4.5 inches. I have not ordered any umbees, because I wanted to get my tank first. The selfish reasoning behind my question is that my Vieja are in a 300 gallon stock tank and it would be more enjoyable to watch them grow out in my new aquarium. Thanks in advance.

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are you putting several umbees and hoping that two pair up and the rest get killed?

i would assume the young vieja would have a much better chance if there will be more than one or two umbee. however ive had a 1” flowerhorn fry kill 3 5” aggressive male geos in one night.

 

[JDCichlid]

Haha I don’t want any of them to get killed, but you bring up a good point. Any advice is appreciated. I want to grow a male out and eventually, yes I’d love a pair. I’ve read that umbees growth slows down once they start breeding. For this reason I’ve considered growing out a male by itself. The flip side is I’ve heard it’s good to let a group grow out together and pair up naturally. So I haven’t really made up my mind on which way I should go in respect to that. Im completely new to umbees so any advice is welcome.

So your saying I should watch out for the bifasciatus potentially killing the umbees?

 

[Man-made Monsters]

Umbees are super aggressive. Bifasciatus run from a fight until they get much bigger, and even then they are still often times more docile. Your 4.5 inch bifas might be ok around a smaller Umbee or two for a while. However, I think you are approaching your Umbee breeding plan with a lot of challenges ahead. Umbee breeders will hopefully give you some more insight as to the best ways to pair and breed these beasts.

 

[djsaltynuts]

Haha I don’t want any of them to get killed, but you bring up a good point. Any advice is appreciated. I want to grow a male out and eventually, yes I’d love a pair. I’ve read that umbees growth slows down once they start breeding. For this reason I’ve considered growing out a male by itself. The flip side is I’ve heard it’s good to let a group grow out together and pair up naturally. So I haven’t really made up my mind on which way I should go in respect to that. Im completely new to umbees so any advice is welcome.

So your saying I should watch out for the bifasciatus potentially killing the umbees?

you may just have to decide between growing out the best possible specimen or having the best chances at a good pair.
if having a good pair is really important then it may be an obvious choice. if you grow out a specimen youll just have to deal with a divider and possibly having to cut a whole in an eggcrate light diffuser so that the female can go to a side the male cant. i can’t imagine bifasciatus killing an umbee.

 

[JDCichlid]

Thanks for the replies, as with most things I guess the answer is “it’s a risk”