introduce cichlid last

[paul_28]

from what i saw u can get rid of that cichlid agression if they are the last fish added to tank. the guy said hes done it alot and claims when any cichlid is added last its more curious and frightend but if it was the 1st fish in tank then it will think this is my yard Lol get out kind of thing. I cant believe how he had angelfish and tiger barbs then an oscar who keeps the distance and is well behaved.

[paul_28]

In the other tank he had smaller cichlids with pearl gouramis and clown loaches and a black shark but that firemouth and keyhole cichlid just try to hide and not show any of 'im the boss'.

[Momobobo]

I've heard of this technique moreso when releasing a larger fish of the same temperment (in relation to the other fish in the tank). Release the smaller ones first, then slowly build up.

Personally, I had a bunch of Semi agressive SA Cichlids (Angels, Geo conspecifics, etc) and introduced some Convicts (stupid I know).The convicts totally destroyed them...So I dont think introducing them last (not to mention they were half the size of the other occupants) really works if they are different temperments.

[King-eL]

In the other tank he had smaller cichlids with pearl gouramis and clown loaches and a black shark but that firemouth and keyhole cichlid just try to hide and not show any of 'im the boss'.

Firemouth and keyhole cichlids are not that aggressive. They are just for show. IMO convicts are more aggressive than those. They hide probably because there is a black shark in the tank. Even a midas and or any cichlids at midas or red devil aggression level gets beat up by a same size black shark. I'll be more worry of the black shark out growing those other fish. Black shark grows fast and to 15" in one year. 22"-24" in less than 2 years.

If the cichlid is super aggressive at the murderer level then it does not matter if it was introduce in the tank first or last. The dominant killing instinct will still rise up once settle in the tank. It's kinda like a ticking time bomb. Only way to prevent aggression in a community is by over crowding the tank which many african cichlids keepers does and been proven already. I actually does the same thing with my fish.

[paul_28]

some people say tiger oscar is a coward of the cichlids. should i take a chance and add a baby oscar to my 125g with loads of black tetras and tiger barbs and a rainbow shark and corydora catfish an apple snails. if oscar grows up with them he could turn out to be friendly.

[King-eL]

some people say tiger oscar is a coward of the cichlids. should i take a chance and add a baby oscar to my 125g with loads of black tetras and tiger barbs and a rainbow shark and corydora catfish an apple snails. if oscar grows up with them he could turn out to be friendly.

Well oscars maybe just for show but once it outgrows those fish, it will eat them. Oscars are know small tankmates eaters. Also the corys might choke it to death. Does not matter how cowardly the fish is. Simple note, big fish eats small fish. That's just natural. It's not aggression but predatory. Juvenile oscars are actually more predatory than their adult version as the juvenile needs to eat more to grow fast. That's just their natural instinct. With those small fish available, it's will be a buffet.

[mcrocker]

Yup, I agree with the somewhat crowded tank idea. I have a midas and some jack dempseys, and keeping some convict cichlids in the tank has greatly reduced the aggression of the midas. It's in a 160 with a colony of convicts living in the bottom among the rocks, and they aren't really able to breed due to the other fish in the tank. They don't dominate the tank since they are the smallest, but there's always one nearby. Alot of people don't like convicts, and I can understand their reasoning sometimes, but in this setup they do a good job of filling out the bottom of the tank, and with the current tank load their population stays at a stable number. Fewer larger fish and they would breed out of control.

The midas has definitely been a killer in the past, having taken out quite a few fish in her day, but now that I have a fairly busy tank she doesn't really target specific fish other than a big pleco occasionally. Her nearly choking on a convict cichlid once may have helped that behavior though :P