Geo violence

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Embittered

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 19, 2010
51
0
6
New York
Hey i have 3 3-4" g. abalios, a 5" jurupari, and some 1" fry that i think are alabios too . My problem is that the majority of my geo's are always fighting. They are housed in a 110g tank and their tank mates are 12 serpie tetra's and 3 synodontis. So yeah any advice as to what i could do for them to chillout a bit? Also, how do i sex them cause i have a hunch that they are all males and that's why they are fighting.
 
I'm still new to the world of Geophagus, but it's been my experience with a lot of South American cichlids that all-male tanks are generally more peaceful. I have separated all my females out of my main tanks because it was war when they were still there. With nothing to fight over, the males chilled out pretty quickly.

Are you noticing the fighting between fish of the same species, or are they all fighting?
 
Basically they are all fighting. They tend to lip-lock and just ram each other. haha and i thoguht geo's were some what peaceful
 
Embittered;4833269; said:
Basically they are all fighting. They tend to lip-lock and just ram each other. haha and i thoguht geo's were some what peaceful

Geophagus abalios is the most "roudy" geo species I have ever owned. They are fairly aggressive (conspecifically) towards one another. How long has the tank been set up or since you last added/changed stock? Just like many cichlids if you change something about the tank or stock they have to re-sort out who runs what. Establish pecking order. As far as sexing them, you won't be able to visually, they are isopmorphic (no sexual dimorphism visually)
 
Iv had this tank running for about two months and serpae tera's were the last to be added to the tank. I was thnking about adding more abalios to see if the aggression would even out but then with the fry and the 3 abalios i already have id probably be over stocked. But yeah im kind of stumped right now, should i just leave them be or should i try to get more to even out the agrrresion?
 
What footprint is a 110G? Probably not big enough for abalios I'd imagine, I'd want at least a 6x2x2 (180G) for them, or at the very least, a 5x2x2 (150?).

You need more abalios, simple as that. Be prepared for Geophagus to abuse conspecifics, but if it's relentless and fish are becoming permanently stressed/hiding/change of habit you need to get it sorted.
 
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