When to separate? How much aggression is TOO much for growouts?

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aclockworkorange

Dovii
MFK Member
Jun 24, 2010
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Rose City
I've got my group of six argentea growing out in my 90 gallon, hoping for a pair. I also earlier in the week added 5 freddies. They seem to mostly ignore each other, and the aggression I'm asking about is conspecific between the argentea.

I got them when they were about 1.5 to 2" and the biggest is now pushing a little over 4".
Just in case someone asks, the tank is at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5-10 nitrate, ph is 7.6-7.8 using crushed coral to buffer, temp set to 80 degrees F. Tank decor is a large stump in the middle that (hopefuly) acts as a sight barrier, a large piece of manzanita on the left side, and two pvc pipes on either side. Filter is an FX5.

e6862995.jpg


It's an ugly tank, everything in this tank is temporary and being prepared for my 125, and then this tank will be re-done with a 3D background and made into a SA cichlid tank (picture was taken after lights out, and lights turned back on, so they were sleeping, usually they are all over the place).


SO, when is aggression too much? I am noticing an increase (which I expected as they put on size). A few fish have some minor damage to their caudal or dorsal fins. As I'm going for a pair, I wouldn't even know who to remove, as far as I know you can't sex them at this size.

Should I also add more decor to the tank to break up the space? I'm new to the CA cichlid thing and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks.
 
Good question. I would suggest leaving things be until you see a pair unless there is damaging aggression to the point where the fish's life may be in danger then seperate
 
freebyrd;4954322; said:
Good question. I would suggest leaving things be until you see a pair unless there is damaging aggression to the point where the fish's life may be in danger then seperate
Click to expand...

Right, I guess I'm trying to get advice on how to ease the aggression up a bit. I think I'm going to add more decor.

Side note: What size could I expect to start looking for a pair for both the argentea and freddies?
 
Well I've never tried to pair Argentea but have paired all the parachromis. The Freddys will start pairing at 3.5-4" at the smallest and from my experience from in pairing and breeding cichlids I would say the same for Argentea. So you have 11 cichlids in a 90 gal all close to 4"? I would say it's time to start separating now. What other tanks do you have available? If it was me I would at least keep the individual groups together, wether u move Freddies or Argentea at this size either group would still be fine in 90. When u got them all small a 90 is great but now that they're pushing 4" and hitting maturity it's time to start moving or upgrade entire group to 125. And until then if you can't move any then I would suggest lowering temp to 76-78 slow feeding amount down and keep the tank pretty bare. Cause right now you probably feel like your tank looks like one at an LFS:) but by doing those things, the lower temps will cut down on aggression and growth buying you time to upgrade and keeping the tank bare will not give any of them anything to fight over. You could also add some salt to help them heal their small wounds. This is all of the things I would do and have done and it works great for me:) good luck
 
The freddies are actually only about an inch to two inches for the biggest. The biggest argentea is about 4" but the smallest might be slightly less than 3". Like I said the only real aggression in the tank is between the argentea.
Woke up this morning to another "present" from the new freddies--ICH. Note to self for the 1000th time: quarintine new fish. They showed no signs of it at the LFS. Oh well.

I'm actually attempting a community setup for these species to live together long term, and will be adding a third slightly smaller CA Cichlid to round it out soon. If this doesn't end up working out, I will keep just the argentea and i already have a place where the others can go lined up.
 
Hmm you could try either one, it really depends on the vibe in the tank. But by constantly changing it up would keep them confused. The last time I had a group of Argentea I added a jag that was lil larger which all were under 4" and the Argentea destroyed him:( all fish have different personalities though, and since they're smaller than I thought you should be safe adding more hiding spots
 
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