I have found that as they do in nature, certain species do best in colonies or their own kind,
any of the genus Tropheus in Lake Tanganyika, and/or P. demasoni in lake Malawi.
It's not any one thing, but many factors all work together to transform a colonial unit that works together, providing security in numbers, evicting undesirables, algae species grazing (almost like farming) in some cases.
Though not as specified, certain Central Americans form shoaling units in the same manner.
At times if a Fire Mouth is kept as a single indiviual or pair, in a comminty cichlid tank, it either does poorly, or becomes hyper aggressive, but....
if kept as a shoal, in a large tank, without other cichlids, it becomes a completly different dynamic.
I have noticed a similar situaltion with Cribroheros, where many aquarists have problems keeping Cribroheros rostratus as a single individual in a comminuity, or pair becoming hyper aggressive, ....but
where I keept a shoal of a dozen in a large tank, with no other cichlids present, experiencing no aggression at all.
I've seen similar reaction in the Cenotes of Mexico
Where Rocio (JDs) end up in mixed cichlids communities their populatin are often small, and they get torn up
https://youtu.be/eBFAtr6ZfIs
But when Rocio are the sole dominent cichlid, in a large area, their populations are large, are healthyy, and do much better.
https://youtu.be/txmi1mng_XQ
I am doing an experiment at the moment, with 2 species that share the same stretch of river, where I have found no other cichlid speces.
It's interesting that although they share only the same limited space (only a 180 gallon tank) and are quite crowded, aggression (so far) has been minimal.
Have they developed some kind of evolutionary coexistance capacity within that river?
Does the fact that they have different feeding strategies allow less completion for resources in the river?
any of the genus Tropheus in Lake Tanganyika, and/or P. demasoni in lake Malawi.
It's not any one thing, but many factors all work together to transform a colonial unit that works together, providing security in numbers, evicting undesirables, algae species grazing (almost like farming) in some cases.
Though not as specified, certain Central Americans form shoaling units in the same manner.
At times if a Fire Mouth is kept as a single indiviual or pair, in a comminty cichlid tank, it either does poorly, or becomes hyper aggressive, but....
if kept as a shoal, in a large tank, without other cichlids, it becomes a completly different dynamic.
I have noticed a similar situaltion with Cribroheros, where many aquarists have problems keeping Cribroheros rostratus as a single individual in a comminuity, or pair becoming hyper aggressive, ....but
where I keept a shoal of a dozen in a large tank, with no other cichlids present, experiencing no aggression at all.
I've seen similar reaction in the Cenotes of Mexico
Where Rocio (JDs) end up in mixed cichlids communities their populatin are often small, and they get torn up
https://youtu.be/eBFAtr6ZfIs
But when Rocio are the sole dominent cichlid, in a large area, their populations are large, are healthyy, and do much better.
https://youtu.be/txmi1mng_XQ
I am doing an experiment at the moment, with 2 species that share the same stretch of river, where I have found no other cichlid speces.
It's interesting that although they share only the same limited space (only a 180 gallon tank) and are quite crowded, aggression (so far) has been minimal.
Have they developed some kind of evolutionary coexistance capacity within that river?
Does the fact that they have different feeding strategies allow less completion for resources in the river?
