opinions, opinions, opinions :)

[Sarah J]

Ok friends,,

I have felt for a long time that my 125g was missing so much, but I liked my 5 fish living in harmony LOL.
Recently, I found out that instead of 2 male EBA's I thought I had, they were actually a pair and bred, but she ate them.
Then, I thought both of my Sajica's were male, until, yep, she's pregnant and they were building all sorts of caverns in the sand and lava rock.
Well, I had decided to get in touch with Mr. Jeff Rapps to get his opinion on a few things with stocking and such.
Previous stocking :
2-EBA
1-EBJD
2-Sajica's
2-Rio Negro Pleco
1-Emperor Pleco
4-Julii Cory

I have now added :
2-H. multispinosa (rainbow cichlid)
1-H. temporalis (chocolate cichlid)
1-Chalceus
1-A. septemfasciata

I am very happy, but the sajicas :-/
I love them, but had I known they would be a pair, then I wouldn't have allowed it. I am not sure what to do. They own the far right side of the tank and already had a go at it with the septemfasciata. They won overall but the females fins were torn a lot. I don't think I can keep a breeding pair in my tank. The EBA's aren't aggressive at all and they are a pair. I am absolutely in love with the chocolate cichlid already. I love everything I got from Mr. Jeff, he is great.
What should I do about the Sajicas and EBA's?

 

[azmtns]

That is how you wind up with a fishroom and many many tanks. How about a 40 breeder for your pair.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Sounds like the breeding pair will continue to try to defend a nesting area. If the other fish get the message then the actual conflicts may lessen. My guess tho is that in a natural setting the nest territory could be much larger than the one they have staked out so the pair will be tense,
The other fish will be forced into a smaller space than has been normal to avoid conflict with the pair but that may cause additional stress among them. It may be likely that this crowding will result in one of the other fish wandering into the nest territory from time to time.

May not always result in actual fighting but stress hormones can be high for the whole population. My guess is a stepped up WC schedule to keep possible stress hormone levels down.

Anyway if you have the cash and space it can be a nice problem to have. Having a breeding pair to experience can be a fun part of the hobby. As stated setting up more tanks may be in your future. Good luck.

 

[Jdreal21]

id say best bet is to the move of sajicas to another tank and hopefully everything stays peaceful. if you don't have issues with the eba pair keep them in the community but if you like to try breed them going to need their own tank as well

 

[Sarah J]

Thank you all for your replies. Everyone has a lot of space , but I guess I will have to see moving forward. The fight yesterday that they had with the septemfasciata must have took its toll on his stress level because this morning, he has a cloudy stripe on his eye. I have never seen any disease on my fish, but I heard to try melafix so that is what i shall do. I'll do a water change Sunday after the new fish calm down a little. Could the cloudy eye, at all, be do to a scratch?

 

[Sarah J]

Hello; Sounds like the breeding pair will continue to try to defend a nesting area. If the other fish get the message then the actual conflicts may lessen. My guess tho is that in a natural setting the nest territory could be much larger than the one they have staked out so the pair will be tense,
The other fish will be forced into a smaller space than has been normal to avoid conflict with the pair but that may cause additional stress among them. It may be likely that this crowding will result in one of the other fish wandering into the nest territory from time to time.

May not always result in actual fighting but stress hormones can be high for the whole population. My guess is a stepped up WC schedule to keep possible stress hormone levels down.

Anyway if you have the cash and space it can be a nice problem to have. Having a breeding pair to experience can be a fun part of the hobby. As stated setting up more tanks may be in your future. Good luck.

Your reply is outstanding, thank you. This pertains very well to my situation.

 

[duanes]

I agree with Skyl47, and find anytime you put similar looking cichlids, especially those of the same genus) together in a tank, there will be problems (the septemfasciata, and sajica are perfect examples).
To have successful cichlid communities it is often very difficult unless they are have different body, and mouth shapes, and different coloration, because if they don't , they are competitors.

In nature a pair of spawning cichlids will defend an area of about 250 gallons against all other cichlids(4ft x 4ft x 4ft) I have watched a pair of relatively small JDs do this in cenotes in Mexico. This only leaves a tiny area in a 6ft tank for everything else but the pair.
In the video below watch the male JD chase off everything within a large territory and space, about the 1 minute mark
Cristalino
This territory will also change as cichlids move fry around the tank, creating their own invsible (to us) boundaries, that become dangerous for any other cichlids to wander into.
And as stated, this is why we aquarists end up with multiple tanks if we are cichlidophiles (if we don't want ripped up fins, and or want to keep fry), a single tank as a community usually only works until any 2 mature and pair off.
After any pairs mature "in my" tanks, the space usually ends up with a single pair and dithers. Either the pair being removed to a separate tank, or all others removed.
I also find any plecos in a spawning pairs breeding tank to be a mistake, because their presence will almost immediately cause the breeding pair stress out enough to eat the eggs themselves, or else the plecos (being partially nocturnal feeders, and consummate egg eaters) will eat them at night while the cichlids rest.
Beside the Pleco predation problem, they also eat algae on surfaces, that the cichlid fry need to graze on between regular feedings.I allow algae to grow everywhere except the front glass for fry.

If you're not interested in raising fry, this not not be an issue for you, but if you are, multiple tanks, will be in your future.
I put tanks outside in summer for cool water cichlids, and to grow green water, in which the algae (and critters that go with it) are added to fry tanks to graze on, as supplemental food between feedings.

 

[ragin_cajun]

Only thing you can do a this point is to ship all your Sajica to my house. They'll be much happier in my 540.

 

[Sarah J]

Only thing you can do a this point is to ship all your Sajica to my house. They'll be much happier in my 540.

Lol that’s cute! I have someone in my city who will take them ! It’s sad because I’ve wanted them and grew them out. I can’t add another tank because I have this large one in my office and my snakes habitat. As well as worm farms to feed said fish lol. But anyways, we shall see!