Xingu behaviour and agression

[SaltyPlum]

I have 4 xingus roughly around the same size pushing 5-6 inch. Had them growing out in a 45g but recently moved them to my 350g. Not sure of the sex but at this stage i feel i have at least one male (the biggest of the bunch) and one female (the smallest of the bunch), the other 2 im not sure and they keep me guessing.

The amount of time i spend at home during the day they all seem to get along fine, however at night it's a different story. The past two nights ive noticed there has been a bit of agression between the 3 biggest ones. One in particular seems to be more aggressive and will hold the middle of the tank like 'come on lets see what you got' with the other two both going him at the same time (lip locking and biting ect), for which the 2 tag team combo come of second best. The victor, after whooping their ass than proceeds to chase them around the tank wanting to continue the scrap (it and gets so pumped up).

After everything settles down a bit they eventually return to the middle of the tank and go for round 2 in the same manner. I found this very entertaining and pulled up a chair thinking to myself 'I wonder how long this will go on for' by round 4 i was like 'right thats enough of this' and dropped in same food to distract them.

Has anyone experienced anything like this with pbass and explain what could possibly be going on?

 

[Potato Patatto]

I have not experienced that level of establishing - a pecking order.. dr exum might have, he has a nice collection. My understanding is that this will slow down when a clear hierarchy has been made.

 

[dr exum]

fighting usually settles as they figure out who’s who... clean water and keep em fed

one of my orinco’s i removed from the group of 8, as it was tearing fins and creating upheaval- was tired of watching the chasing....

it was segregated solo for couple months then reintroduced- now fine -

gl!

 

[SaltyPlum]

fighting usually settles as they figure out who’s who... clean water and keep em fed

one of my orinco’s i removed from the group of 8, as it was tearing fins and creating upheaval- was tired of watching the chasing....

it was segregated solo for couple months then reintroduced- now fine -

gl!

I may have to follow this advice if the victor gets to out of control.

I find it strange that 2 would join forces against another. The tag team dont fight each other, just back each other in a scrap!

I've kept monos before and never seen this type of behaviour. However, i did have a female that would randomly beat up my much larger male (very violently), I had to remove her from the tank and place her in isolation for a few days on a number of occasions. Eventually i got sick of reapeting this process and sold her off.

With my experience keeping monos and now xingus, monos were much more skittish than xingus at this age and size. Im surpised how responsive the xingus are.

 

[TheWolfman]

Just the pecking order taking place. With only 4 there will be more pressure on each sub dominant fish. Bass seem to do best in odd numbers. It might help if you add more fish to defuse the aggression.

 

[bassinmike85]

I have a group of kings growing out as well. There was some pecking order at first but since they are with so many other fish, None of my fish show aggression anymore. But perviously I learned to add more fish (dither Fish) . What a lot of new or someone who has kept Cichla a while is there will always be a pecking order somewhere during the time frame of which they keep their Cichla. also feed them snuff to keep them full. slows them down lol

 

[SaltyPlum]

I have a group of kings growing out as well. There was some pecking order at first but since they are with so many other fish, None of my fish show aggression anymore. But perviously I learned to add more fish (dither Fish) . What a lot of new or someone who has kept Cichla a while is there will always be a pecking order somewhere during the time frame of which they keep their Cichla. also feed them snuff to keep them full. slows them down lol

My xingus are with XL silver dollars and spotted gar. Agree, dither fish and tank mates make a huge diffence with bass. When i was growing out the xingus in my 40g they were a little skittish at times and I was in the process of training them to eat pellets, since moving them into the 350g with other fish they're much more responsive and the first ones to get food and all of them smashing pellets now. They're starting to bulk up a bit.

 

[SaltyPlum]

Just the pecking order taking place. With only 4 there will be more pressure on each sub dominant fish. Bass seem to do best in odd numbers. It might help if you add more fish to defuse the aggression.

Im hoping to get my hands on some kelberis soon. Though i will have to power feed them in order to bulk them up fast so they can catch up in size and all be in the same tank.