When 300 gallons just isn't enough......

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Well, I agree with Madness, at least the argentea settled in! :)

settled in is a bit of an understatement. He's quite the little pig. At first, I was worried he wasnt eating enough. Now I think he might be eating too much. Very cool fish though
 
settled in is a bit of an understatement. He's quite the little pig. At first, I was worried he wasnt eating enough. Now I think he might be eating too much. Very cool fish though

He's probably bulking up for the next fight! Hahaha.

He probably learned that being shy doesn't mean they'll ignore you when hell breaks loose!

Thank you for sharing the pic! :) At least Babs looks happy.
 
I'm glad everything worked out and none of your fish were killed. It's too bad the jag wouldn't play nice. She's a pretty fish. I'd love to see the argentea and setup.
 
Would love to see a recent pic!

this was right before he went in the big tank. I'll try to get some new ones in the next day or so. He heals fins really quickly. I'll also get a fts in a few hours. Lotsa glare around this time of the day......

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You're correct about never knowing how these things will work out. We view these tanks as huge but in reality they are very small considering these fish will defend an area at least as larg if not in some cases larger than a 300 gallon tank. I think it was very cool you shared this story. This should serve as an example to the new commers posting endless threads about adding this or that to tanks that should house one fish and then get upset when they are told not to do it. I had my breeding pair of Krobia XO all of 6" TL in my 225 I put my other male in there and he was almost skinned alive these were only 6" fish! Good thread John.
 
^^Sometimes it seems I learn the more from the failures in this hobby than I do from the successes. Ironically enough, several very experienced fish keepers on this forum, whom I have the upmost respect for, helped me with my "stocking" when I first set up this tank. I followed the advice, for the most part, and have had a lot of pleasure with the community I finally decided on. And then that little devil on my shoulder kept saying "go ahead, its just one more fish".

at the end of the day, they were right and I was wrong to push the envelope.

Everything can be perfect for what may seem like a long time, but after years pass and these fish grow, things could go south very quickly if just one fish snaps. Sometimes I try to help folks who are new to cichlids and stocking levels, but most of what I offer is advice I've heard about or read about, because I got good advice early and stocked accordingly. Now that I have failed at trying something I probably shouldn't have tried in the first place, Im speaking from experience........and even if it was seemingly successful for a period of time, how long will it last is the ultimate question and unfortunately no one has that answer........
 
that was an important read,thanks for sharing.so many new cichlid keepers can learn from this.much credit to you that none were killed.never easy to add new fish,like it's been said-all are DIFFERENT.each tank,combo,individual,etc.always prepare for the worst.glad you got the argentea in!
 
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