Over the past couple of years I have attempted to raise a group of Central American cichlids to get a pair. Most recently I raised up a group of 8 Amarillo's in a 180 gallon tank. everything was going great they were putting on size and everyone looked great . I came home from work yesterday and only one fish is alive, the rest massacred. This has happened to me on two other occasions with Centrals. One day one of the fish snaps and kills everyone else. I thought the tank size would be adequate for growing them out? Plenty of cover never fed live food. Is this just crap luck or am I missing something?
What am I doing wrong
- Thread starter ediiddy
- Start date
Mixing cichlids, CA's to a higher degree is always a crapshoot. If the dominant member of a group decides the others have to go, then it will strive to make it so. I have a very mean female RedTex. At 3ins while sharing a 135 growout, she killed a male Jag, Convict and shredded a bigger Oscar. Was also after the JD, GT, Midas. Was intent on cleaning out the tank, and had I not been home, I'm sure she would have succeeded.
Are you using dithers? I never keep only 1 type of cichlids together. I keep at least 2 types to spread out aggression. I also use different silver dollar types as dithers with all of my large CA cichlids and they really help.
X2, dithers keep them distracted and wears them out.
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Dithers wouldn't have helped here. The killer would've killed all the other amarillo THEN went after the dithers.
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Although getting a number of young, and growing them up together exponentially increases the chances of getting a pair, compared to buying 2 or 3, (as others have said) there really are no guarantees.
If the alpha is ready, but none of the others are, they are toast
Just as getting an established pair that works in one tank, doesn't mean they will stay that way in another tank.
Especially when you consider the volume of water these fish come from, and live in, in nature, a 180 is a drop in the bucket, there is no escape for the subordinates.
Can't tell you how many times this has happened to me.
And at times target fish don't matter, I just had the same thing happen, grew out a number of Paratilapia andapa together, with a number of other cichlid species in a 6ft tank.
The alpha Paratilapia, almost overnight singled out, and killed all others of its species, but not bothered any of the other cichlid species in the tank.
And the others are normally much less aggressive types.
If the alpha is ready, but none of the others are, they are toast
Just as getting an established pair that works in one tank, doesn't mean they will stay that way in another tank.
Especially when you consider the volume of water these fish come from, and live in, in nature, a 180 is a drop in the bucket, there is no escape for the subordinates.
Can't tell you how many times this has happened to me.
And at times target fish don't matter, I just had the same thing happen, grew out a number of Paratilapia andapa together, with a number of other cichlid species in a 6ft tank.
The alpha Paratilapia, almost overnight singled out, and killed all others of its species, but not bothered any of the other cichlid species in the tank.
And the others are normally much less aggressive types.
Thanks for the reply it's tough you spend all this time changing water and caring for the fish then bam. One goes nuts and wipes everyone out. Everything you reed about keeping cichlid says get eight or ten and you will end up with at least one pair. No one tells you that you can wind up with one without much warning!