Vieja Zonatus and Regani aggression question....

[koltsixx]

I'm hoping to obtain a Zonatus or Regani in the near future and just wanted to know what to expect as far as aggression towards tankmates. I've searched the forum and googled like crazy, but there isn't much info about their temperament to be found especially the Zonatus. Even pics aren't that plentifu,l mostly they're of sub-adults or young adults. I have a Synspilum about 10 inches right now and he's very tolerant of his tankmates. I'm hoping the same is true for the Zonatus or Regani. I'd really like to know if anyone else has had personal experience with them and could give me some insight into their temperament. Feel free to post pic's of your Regani or Zonatus adults I'd like to see more pics of mature specimens. Please help me I know there are those who have kept or are keeping them based on my search on this forum. I also know the last time I made a thread like this for Synspilum temperament I got like 4 replies. Despite there being many pic threads of Synspilum meaning alot of people had personal experience with them. So please help spread the love of your Vieja's by informing a fellow hobbyist so the appreciation of this beatuiful group of cichlids can grow. Thanx in advance for those who help me out.

 

[Jason_S]

This is the zonatus I used to have. It was around 10" and kept in a 150 gallon with other smaller sized (3-7") cichlids such as variouis Thorichthys, Cryptoheros as well as A. robertsoni and a heterospilus.

The zonatus and largest robertsoni were pretty much bosses of the tank. They never really started anything with other fist, or even with each other, but they would also not back down to anything else in the tank. I seem to recall the zonatus always staying to the left side of the tank and the robertsoni was always on the right so they had their boundaries.

The zonatus even spawned once or twice with the heterospilus and was never overly aggressive towards the other fish. The eggs never hatched and they weren't a 'steady pair'.

I think I got kinda lucky though in getting one that was as even-tempered as it was. I've heard more stories about them being highly aggressive like fenestratus and bifasciatus. If it starts out smaller with larger fish and in a large enough tank they may get along ok.

 

[Modest_Man]

I've owned all three of those species before (all at the same time even) and the zonatus was by far the most aggressive. Synspilum are middle of the road, and my regani was very peaceful. I ended up getting rid of the zonatus as she was too aggressive, and I got rid of the regani because it wasn't aggressive enough to hang in my mixed CA/SA setup.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Regani are quite mild-mannered, I had one that I grew to about 9" and i dont remember him ever being in a fight. The zonatus are a bit more fiesty, probably on par with an argentea in terms of aggression. Its mostly conspecific aggression though, they hate other vieja but dont bother much else in my experience

 

[buddha1200]

my zonatus was by far the most aggressive,i bought a pair (5inch female and 7 inch male)put them in a 125 and the male killed the female in a week. I only have small regani right now but they are not aggressive at all.